The only thing he could have done was win the NCAA championship and that’s the only thing that didn’t happen for him.” “Last summer in Ireland with the U21 team, then we get to the national championship game. “His last year has been incredible,” said Danowski. Mix in an ESPY nomination as the Best Male College Athlete, a couple stops on the SportsCenter Top 10 list and a host of other viral plays and it’s apparent O’Neill has come of age and left little for naysayers to say. For a young guy to play that well at this level in that game was incredible. It didn’t matter if he was dodging a short stick or long stick. When we needed someone, he put his foot in the ground.

head coach John Danowski of O’Neill’s performance in the gold medal game. “He leaves me speechless,” said Duke and U.S. His performance - 14 goals and five assists in seven games - earned him the tournament’s Most Outstanding Midfielder and Most Valuable Player awards. So, when he stepped onto the international stage this summer with seasoned professionals, some of whom have been playing lacrosse longer than he’s been alive, and scored five goals to lead the United States to the gold medal at the World Men’s Lacrosse Championship, no words were left to describe the legend that is Brennan O’Neill. Enners Most Outstanding Division I Player and the ACC Offensive Player of the Year. He finished the 2023 lacrosse season as a consensus first-team All-American, won the Tewaaraton Award as the nation’s best player and was named the USILA’s Lt.

However, the introverted “wunderkind” was quietly determined not to let them. With virtually unattainable expectations placed upon him since he was tabbed as the next big thing in the sport and a wunderkind, there were always cynics trying to knock O’Neill off his pedestal. to the 2022 World Lacrosse Men’s U21 Championship last summer, O’Neill entered his junior season at Duke as a preseason All-America first-team choice by the USILA - the nation’s coaches - and a preseason All-America third-team pick by Inside Lacrosse. These are just a few of the ways people described Brennan O’Neill before he even donned a Blue Devils jersey for the Duke men’s lacrosse team.Ī household name for lacrosse fans since he was 14 years old in eighth grade, O’Neill showed the casual sports fan why that was the case with one of the most memorable 12 months a college athlete can have.Īfter helping lead the U.S.

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