1997 NLL draft

The 1997 NLL Draft composed of nine rounds where 72 lacrosse players were selected. The draft was completed on a conference call with all the teams coaches.

1st round

Denotes player who never played in the NLL regular season or playoffs

Pick #	NLL team	Player	Position	Club/college
1	Baltimore Thunder	Matt Shearer	F	Loyola College
2	Boston Blazers	Brenden Glass^#		University of Massachusetts
3	Ontario Raiders	Ken Millin	F	Six Nations Chiefs
4	Syracuse Smash	Jim Rankin	G	Western Canada
5	New York Saints	Tom Wreggitt^#		Peterborough Lakers
6	Philadelphia Wings	Rusty Kruger	F	Orangeville, Ontario
7	Buffalo Bandits	Casey Zaph	F	Peterborough Lakers
8	Buffalo Bandits	Marty O'Brien	F	Whitby Warriors

2nd round

Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Pro Team and had won at least one NLL Award
Denotes player who never played in the NLL regular season or playoffs

Pick #	NLL team	Player	Position	Club/college
9	Baltimore Thunder	Michael Watson^#	F	University of Virginia
10	Boston Blazers	Mike Tughan^#		Scarborough, Ontario
11	Ontario Raiders	Derek Malawsky	F	New Westminster Salmonbellies
12	Syracuse Smash	John Wilson	F	Burnaby, British Columbia
13	New York Saints	Danen Reisig	D	Victoria Shamrocks
14	Philadelphia Wings	Verigin Tutty^#		Vancouver, British Columbia
15	Buffalo Bandits	Bob Henry	F	Six Nations Chiefs
16	Rochester Knighthawks	Josh Sanderson*	F	Orangeville Northmen

3rd round

Denotes player who won at least one NLL Award
Denotes player who never played in the NLL regular season or playoffs

Pick #	NLL team	Player	Position	Club/college
17	Baltimore Thunder	Andrew Ross	F	United States Naval Academy
18	Boston Blazers	Cam Woods^x	D	Brooklin Redmen
19	Ontario Raiders	Chris Langdale	D	Ontario
20	Syracuse Smash	Jason Johnson^#		Six Nations Chiefs
21	New York Saints	Jeff Gombar^#	G	North Shore Indians
22	Philadelphia Wings	Brad Downey^#		Coquitlam Adanacs
23	Buffalo Bandits	Gary Scott	F	Orangeville, Ontario
24	Rochester Knighthawks	Kevin Dance	F	Brampton Excelsiors

4th round

Denotes player who never played in the NLL regular season or playoffs

Pick #	NLL team	Player	Position	Club/college
25	Baltimore Thunder	Billy Evans^#		Johns Hopkins University
26	Boston Blazers	Scott Ronson^#		Niagara Falls Gamblers
27	Ontario Raiders	Glenn Clark	D	Brooklin Redmen
28	Syracuse Smash	Brent Rothfuss	F	Nazareth College
29	New York Saints	John Gagliardi	F	Johns Hopkins University
30	Philadelphia Wings	Dave Stilley	D	Duke University
31	Buffalo Bandits	Clay Hill	D	Six Nations Chiefs
32	Rochester Knighthawks	Bob Fisher	F	St. Catharines Athletics

5th round

Denotes player who never played in the NLL regular season or playoffs

Pick #	NLL team	Player	Position	Club/college
33	Baltimore Thunder	Doug Knight	F	University of Virginia
34	Boston Blazers	Jason Fivek^#		Colgate University
35	Ontario Raiders	R. Phillips^#	G	Peterborough Lakers
36	Syracuse Smash	Ryan Kells	F	Niagara Falls Gamblers
37	New York Saints	Jason Osier^#		Princeton University
38	Philadelphia Wings	Jake Bergey	F	Salisbury State University
39	Buffalo Bandits	Sean Howe^#		St. Catharines Athletics
40	Rochester Knighthawks	Pat Cougevan		Syracuse University

6th round

Denotes player who won at least one NLL Award
Denotes player who never played in the NLL regular season or playoffs

Pick #	NLL team	Player	Position	Club/college
41	Baltimore Thunder	Jason Wade^#		University of North Carolina
42	Boston Blazers	Paul Judge^#		Hofstra University
43	Ontario Raiders	Steve Toll^x	D	Niagara Falls Gamblers
44	Syracuse Smash	Warren Blackwell	F	Victoria Shamrocks
45	New York Saints	Jim Gonnella^#		Duke University
46	Philadelphia Wings	G. Atterbury^#		Washington College
47	Buffalo Bandits	Cort Knodel^#		Canisius College
48	Rochester Knighthawks	Dan Garrett^#	D	Nazareth College

7th round

Denotes player who never played in the NLL regular season or playoffs

Pick #	NLL team	Player	Position	Club/college
49	Baltimore Thunder	David Curry^#		University of Virginia
50	Boston Blazers	B. Proefrock^#		Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
51	Ontario Raiders	Pat Jones	D	Whitby Warriors
52	Syracuse Smash	Tony Henderson	F	Niagara Falls Gamblers
53	New York Saints	Chris Grande^#		University of Massachusetts
54	Philadelphia Wings	Jude Collins	F	University of North Carolina
55	Buffalo Bandits	Chris Clark	F	Michigan State University
56	Rochester Knighthawks	Phil Sanderson	D	Orangeville Northmen

8th round

Denotes player who never played in the NLL regular season or playoffs

Pick #	NLL team	Player	Position	Club/college
57	Baltimore Thunder	M. Marchant^#		Mount Washington College
58	Boston Blazers	Steve Rogie^#		Michigan State University
59	Ontario Raiders	Kris Bryde	F	Coquitlam Adanacs
60	Syracuse Smash	Jim Roberts^#		Brooklin Redmen
61	New York Saints	Craig Kahoun^#		Butler University
62	Philadelphia Wings	Werner Krueger	F	Johns Hopkins University
63	Buffalo Bandits	Chris Levis	G	Six Nations Chiefs
64	Rochester Knighthawks	Rory Thorpe^#		Syracuse University

9th round

Denotes player who never played in the NLL regular season or playoffs

Pick #	NLL team	Player	Position	Club/college
65	Baltimore Thunder	Brian Volpe^#		Loyola College
66	Boston Blazers	Alex Nephew^#		Denison University
67	Ontario Raiders	Chad Squire	F	Six Nations Chiefs
68	Syracuse Smash	Bill Genie^#		Six Nations Chiefs
69	New York Saints	Brian Kuczma^#		Johns Hopkins University
70	Philadelphia Wings	Tim Lucky^#		Mount Washington College
71	Buffalo Bandits	Jeff Hanson	F	Burnaby Lakers
72	Rochester Knighthawks	Matt Kerwick	F	Hobart and William Smith Colleges