VILLANOVA, Pa.—On an exciting night for lacrosse in both the collegiate and professional ranks, fifth year Wildcats midfielder Matt Campbell (Madison, N.J.) heard his name called as the ninth overall selection in the Premier Lacrosse League 2023 College Draft which aired live Tuesday night on ESPNU. Campbell was the first pick in the second round by the Cannons, who did not have a first round pick and made Campbell their first choice in the four-round draft.
 
"Having Matt there [at No. 9] is a great fit for our offense," first year Cannons head coach Brian Holman said. "Matt brings a lot to the table. He is two-handed, he dodges hard, he can quarterback an offense, he cam dodge from the midfield and he's got a great assist-to-goal ratio. He has been the guy at Villanova for all these years. Talking to coaches in their conference that had to defend him, they had nothing but great things to say about him so we're ecstatic and we can't wait to get Matt to put on a Cannons uniform."
 
Campbell and his Villanova teammates were gathered in their locker room on campus to watch the draft, with ESPNU showing a live reaction of the team reacting to the selection during their draft night coverage. The opportunity to continue his career at the professional level is a highly-anticipated and well-earned reward for Campbell's record-setting collegiate career. He is one of 25 trophy nominees for this year's Tewaaraton Award and was considered one of the top prospects nationwide for the PLL draft.
 
"He does fit," Holman said of adding Campbell to a Cannons roster which expects to have a revamped offense this season. "It's going to be an offense based off of ball movement and player movement, and [Matt] can do that. He can draw slides, he can finish the ball if he has to, and he can quarterback from up top or down below. He has played both attack and midfield. We have a lot of new parts and a lot of moving parts, but Matt makes up more athletic in the middle of the field and that is something we are really trying to get better at."
 
Last week Campbell was named the BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year and earned a major postseason conference honor for the first time in his career. He was a BIG EAST weekly honoree seven times this season, earning Midfielder of the Week honors on four occasions and being named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll three other times. Campbell led the Wildcats with 62 points which is the sixth-most in a single season in program history. He also had a team-high 25 assists and ranked second on the squad with 37 goals scored. Campbell ranked second in the BIG EAST with an average of 4.13 points per game while coming in third in the conference in assists and fourth in goals.
 
During the season Campbell broke the Wildcats career records for goals and points. He finished his outstanding collegiate career with totals of 154 goals and 230 points, with his 76 career assists putting him seventh in school history. Campbell ranks third among active Division I players in career goals scored and is fourth on the active career points list. He is a four-time BIG EAST selection and has been a first team pick each of the last three seasons.
 
Campbell will become the eighth former Villanova standout to play in the Premier Lacrosse League, an American professional touring league comprised of eight teams. The inaugural season was in 2019, while this year's PLL schedule will consist of 11 weekends of regular season competition played in major markets around the country. The 2023 season opens on June 3-4 in Albany, N.Y. and concludes on August 25-26 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Playoffs are on three dates in September, concluding on September 24 in Philadelphia.