Chris Kavanagh, the 2024 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player, was selected by the California Redwoods with the 10th overall pick in the 2025 College Draft presented by Q-Collar.

Kavanagh is a back-to-back national champion with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (2023, 2024) and possesses elite offensive talent that will immediately bolster California’s offense along with No. 2 pick Andrew McAdorey and No. 3 pick Sam English. 

Redwoods general manager Joe Spallina is very familiar with both McAdorey and English. McAdorey played for Spallina on Team 91 Crush growing up, and English – whom ESPN broadcaster Paul Carcaterra called a “unicorn” – is teammates with both of Spallina’s sons at Syracuse.

Spallina said there was a lot of debate about who to take with picks two and three, with Kavanagh factoring into the discussion, but ultimately, he and head coach Anthony Kelly opted to go with the two speedy and versatile midfielders. He said the team needed to find ways to manufacture goals and wanted to use McAdorey and English on the wings on faceoffs to dominate possession.

As the draft carried on, teams addressed roster holes. Boston and Carolina went after lefty attackmen, Utah traded up to get the close defender it liked, and New York and Maryland also targeted versatile midfielders. Kavanagh, who was No. 2 on Adam Lamberti’s Big Board, slipped down the board.

While it may have been unfortunate for the Notre Dame senior, Spallina was excited about the possibility of him falling all the way to the Redwoods' second-round pick.

“That was a quick text for us to get a player of that caliber there,” he said on the draft telecast.

With the Fighting Irish, Kavanagh has made a name for himself on the righty wing as an elite scorer who plays with a relentless tenacity and fearlessness. The youngest Kavanagh brother has 232 points (145G, 87A) and counting in his college career and has started all 57 games he’s played across his four years in South Bend. 

The righty attackman can beat his defender off a dodge with physicality or quickness, and he’s also great at working off-ball to find his spots to get shots on cage. Kavanagh can be the primary ball-handler in an offense or take a secondary role as an off-ball player because his tool kit is so deep on the offensive side. 

“They are pinching themselves that Kavanagh fell to them at 10,” ESPN broadcaster Ryan Boyle said on the draft telecast. “The fact that they got a top-two, top-three talent, the fact that they got him at 10 as opposed to having to take him at two or three is remarkable. They just need an influx of offensive talent.”

In the last two seasons, Kavanagh has enhanced his feeding ability and become a more dynamic player, which translates well to the professional game. With the ability to beat defenses as a dodger, feeder and off-ball player, Kavanagh has a chance to become a staple as a top offensive player in the league for years to come. 

He joins a Redwoods team with a lot of familiar faces. He was teammates at Notre Dame with Chris Conlin, Chris Fake, Brian Tevlin and Arden Cohen. Additionally, Ryder Garnsey is on the Fighting Irish coaching staff.

Kavanagh’s older brother, Pat Kavanagh, was drafted sixth overall in the 2024 College Draft by the Boston Cannons and is now a member of the Denver Outlaws after an offseason trade. He’s also the younger brother of Matt Kavanagh, who just announced his retirement from professional lacrosse after a decorated career that included two MLL titles with the Outlaws (2016, 2018) and the overtime game-winner in the 2024 Championship Series for the Cannons. 

Like his elder brothers, Chris rides like a maniac in the clearing game and is always a threat to cause a turnover in the open field to create quick transition offense the other way. His 134 ground balls as an attackman in four years with the Fighting Irish are sandwiched between his brothers’ collegiate totals (Pat 161, Matt 112) and display the grit of a Kavanagh when loose change hits the carpet. 

Kavanagh projects to make his PLL debut against his brother Pat and the Outlaws to open the season on May 30.