On the night of Tuesday Sept. 17, Cabrini alumnus Jordan Krug was picked by the Philadelphia Wings in the fifth round of the 2019 National Lacrosse League (NLL) entry draft at Xfinity Live! in Philadelphia.
During his four years at Cabrini, he became the school’s all-time leader in goals (233, tied with Casey Grugan), points (355) and games played (84), among several others. To go along with the stats he’s also a three-time all-American, two-time conference player of the year, 2019 Division III offensive player of the year and perhaps most notably, 2019 NCAA champion.
Now, he can add professional athlete to his ever-growing list of accomplishments.
“It’s pretty surreal, I don’t know if it’s fully sunk in yet,” Krug said. “I’ve still got to work my way onto getting a roster spot and hopefully getting some time, as of right now, but it’s pretty amazing.”
Getting drafted by the Wings carries special significance for Krug. A native of South Jersey, playing for Philly means his home games will be a mere 15 miles from his hometown.
“Being a local kid, from the other side of Philly, in Jersey, I’ve always been a Philadelphia fan since I was born,” he said. “The fact that I can potentially become a Philadelphia professional athlete is unbelievable.”
Krug came to Cabrini as a freshman in 2015. Over the next four years, the Cavaliers had a 71-14 win-loss record, going 27-0 in conference play. In 2019 alone, the Cavs outscored their conference opponents 166-31, including the Atlantic East Conference playoffs.
“He’s a good friend of mine, so I want him to succeed and I’m proud that he accomplished a goal that he’s wanted for some time now,” Tommy DeLuca, a junior business management major and defender for Cabrini, said. “On a more selfish note, it’s also great for the school, great for the program with more recognition, just more advertising for the Cabrini lacrosse team.”
Even with the on-field success, his teammates and coaches make it clear that his biggest influence was most felt away from the field.
“He led by example, he was one of the hardest working guys on the team,” DeLuca said. “I always knew that I could turn to him with any advice or any sort of mentorship that he could provide.”
“He was a leader, a captain, a hard worker, a very skilled player, one of the more humble players I ever had with his skill set,” Steve Colfer, Cabrini men’s lacrosse head coach, said. “The impact that he had was tremendous, well beyond the playing field and we will miss that.”
He also added that while Krug isn’t the first Cavs player to make it to the pros, it’s always special nonetheless.
“It’s always special to have guys, after they graduate, get the opportunity to stay in the game and play,” Colfer said. “For him to be drafted by a local Philadelphia team is obviously pretty cool.”
While it’s still lacrosse, the NLL game is completely different from the college stage, even down to the size of the playing field. Instead of playing outside on a large field, the games take place in arenas. The Wings, for example, play at the Wells Fargo Center and the game at the pro level almost looks more like hockey than traditional lacrosse.
“I say to a lot of my family members it’s like hockey, just up in the air, you’re following the ball,” Krug said. “It’s real tough, just like hockey. There’s fighting, there’s bashing guys, there’s big body hits and checks, everything like that.”
Of course, if asked whether getting drafted or winning the national championship was better, he has a simple answer.
“Definitely holding the trophy up in the Linc,” he said. “When I was able to do that with a group of guys who I’ve been working with for four years now, day in and day out, pushing each other and busting each other’s ass every day, that was just an unbelievable moment.”
