Ryan Boyle Surprised By Announcement Of His Selection To The Pro Lacrosse Hall Of Fame

Ryan Boyle was doing what he does as well as pretty much anyone else, which means almost anything to do with the sport of lacrosse. In this case, he was analyzing a game on ESPN, when suddenly he took center stage.

While doing a broadcast with ESPN's Chris Cotter, Boyle was joined by Paul Rabil, the Premier Lacrosse League founder. Rabil then surprised Boyle with the news that he was the first member of the 2023 PLL Pro Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

Boyle, Princeton Class of 2004, will be inducted this summer, when the PLL has its date at Johns Hopkins. This will be the second Pro Lacrosse Hall of Fame class, and Boyle will join his longtime teammate Matt Striebel, who was in the first class. Both Boyle and Striebel are already members of the US Lacrosse National Hall of Fame, inducted together in 2019.

In addition to being told about his selection, Boyle was shown a video that included highlights of his time at Princeton and in Major League Lacrosse, as well as interviews with Striebel, former Princeton coach Bill Tierney and Kyle Sweeney, an MLL teammate of Boyle's. They basically all said the same two things about Boyle: 1) he has one of the greatest lacrosse minds of all-time and 2) he's won everywhere he's been.

At Princeton, that meant an NCAA championship his freshman year of 2001, when the Tigers defeated Syracuse 10-9 on his overtime assist to B.J. Prager. After leading Princeton back to the Final Four as a senior with an epic performance with two late goals and then the game-winning assist to rally the Tigers past Maryland in overtime in the quarterfinals, he won four championships between the Barrage and Cannons and became the league's career leader in assists. He also won two World Championships with Team USA.

Beyond just his physical success, Boyle is considered perhaps the the most cerebral player who has ever played. He has carried that over into his work on television, where he was become renowned for his ability to analyze a game, and through his work with Trilogy Lacrosse, which promotes education as well as the game.

Boyle, a psychology major at Princeton, still sits third all-time in program history in assists (162) and points (232). He was a two-time first-team All-American and two-time Ivy League Player of the Year at Princeton.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results