Cornell University’s CJ Kirst has already had an enormous year. He’s been shattering records left and right, breaking the University’s all-time scoring record against Princeton, then the NCAA all-time record against Dartmouth just a few short weeks later. Following an Ivy League Tournament sweep to secure Cornell’s ticket to the NCAA Tournament, Kirst was selected number-one overall in the Premier Lacrosse League College Draft by the Philadelphia Waterdogs. And just when it couldn’t get any better, Kirst put the Big Red on his back in the NCAA Finals to bring Cornell its first national championship in almost half a century. After a historic season, Kirst’s sights are now set further on the horizon, aiming to meet his brothers, Colin and Cole, in the National Lacrosse League.
CJ Kirst now holds the NCAA Division I men’s all-time goal record with his 225th career goal 👏
History for the Cornell lacrosse captain 😤 pic.twitter.com/lKhasy76Bw
— ESPN (@espn) April 26, 2025
In the summer of 2024, Kirst was selected to represent Team USA alongside his older brother Connor at the World Box Championships, where Team USA was awarded the Silver Medal after a 13-7 loss to the star-studded Team Canada. Kirst put up 11 points while donning the red, white and blue.
During his time with the OJLL Mimico Mountaineers in the 2023 season, Kirst gained a reputation as a Swiss Army knife, able to play both sides of the ball and even took faceoffs. Despite joining the Mountaineers partway through their season, he still tallied 30 points in ten games, and his performance against the Whitby Warriors in the OJLL Playoffs put him in the same draft conversations as 2024’s number-one draft pick, Philadelphia’s Brennan O’Neill.
Though the 2024-25 season just came to a historic close, the 2025 NLL Entry Draft will be here before the League can sweep up the confetti. As the draft inches closer, Kirst has already presented himself as a high-value prospect with a distinct professional pedigree, making it no surprise that he’d be in contention for the number-one overall selection. Kirst’s first selection would make him the second consecutive American-born player to go first overall in the NLL Entry Draft following O’Neill. Before the 2024 Draft, the last American number-one pick was made by the original Rochester Knighthawks in 1998, signing Casey Powell.
Checking in with Brennan O’Neill, the #1 Overall Pick in the 2024 NLL Draft presented by Castore 🗣️@NLLwings pic.twitter.com/kpaHrJO8mZ
— NLL (@NLL) September 15, 2024
While it’s far too early to set the top draft pick in stone at this stage, we can already point fingers at the teams that are most likely to snatch him up. As of May 28, the Toronto Rock hold the first three overall picks of the Entry Draft, with the Las Vegas Desert Dogs trailing close behind with the fourth. Should Toronto pass up Kirst during their first three selections, the Desert Dogs could have the opportunity to reunite two of the Kirst brothers in Sin City.
Older brothers Colin and Cole still currently signed to the Las Vegas Desert Dogs and Halifax Thunderbirds, respectively, CJ is eager to join his brothers and make his grand entrance. In his senior season alone, Kirst tallied 115 points (82 goals, 33 assists), becoming the third player in NCAA history to score 80 goals in a single season, and tying the single-season record for goals scored. Over the course of his collegiate lacrosse career at Cornell, Kirst amassed a staggering 345 points (247 goals, 98 assists), breaking the all-time record for goals scored set by Payton Cormier of the Vancouver Warriors, and shattering the longstanding University record set by Albany Firewolves part-owner and Hall of Famer, Mike French.
CJ KIRST NATURAL HAT TRICK 🎩🎩🎩
The most prolific goal scorer in college lacrosse history has scored 3 STRAIGHT GOALS in the National Championship
(via ESPN / @CornellLacrosse) pic.twitter.com/k9lDUxwC1H
— TLN 🥍 (@LacrosseNetwork) May 26, 2025
During his time at Cornell, French was a member of the 1976 Big Red lacrosse team, one of the last Cornell rosters to win a National Championship, during which he scored seven goals against the University of Maryland. Over the course of Kirst’s tenure, he and French developed an amicable, mentor-mentee relationship, through which the two have nurtured a strong admiration for each other, in spite of Kirst breaking all French’s records.
Image of Albany Firewolves part-owner and Hall of Famer, Mike French by Cornell Athletics
“I’m 72 years old, the last thing I want to do is pass away or go to my grave with some records that haven’t been broken,” French joked. “We’ve had a great relationship and a great love for each other for a long time, and he’s one of the most remarkable human beings that I’ve met.”
French’s extensive time spent around the Kirst family has informed his positive opinion of CJ a hundred times over, instilling in him the confidence that there isn’t a thing he couldn’t accomplish. “They’re just a tremendous family,” French fawned over the Kirst’s welcoming nature. “Their smiles when you see them and you talk to them, how compassionate they are about each other, about me as an alumnus, and their teammates– I wish [the Albany Firewolves] had the first pick.”
Growing up with four siblings, Kirst’s good nature and competitive spirit were fostered by his older brothers, who he credits as being his biggest supporters and greatest motivators. “They mean everything to me,” Kirst told ESPN. “They’re the best leaders I’ve ever been around, they’re my best friends.”
The Kirst family became household names in their hometown of Bernardsville, New Jersey, and their respective colleges and universities as a prestigious lacrosse family. Their prolific status in the lacrosse world starts with their father, the late Kyle Kirst, who grew up in Long Island, New York, before moving to New Jersey to play lacrosse at Rutgers. After college, Kyle went into coaching, his greatest passion, but as his sons will tell you, there was nothing he enjoyed more than coaching his five boys.
The brothers followed in their father’s footsteps in their uptake of lacrosse, from backyard shootarounds to competing in the NCAA. As the second youngest of five siblings, CJ Kirst found himself chasing his brothers around, wanting to follow them and compete with them at every turn.
“He was a fireball, the redhead fireball,” his mother, Michelle Kirst, described young CJ to ESPN as a ball of endless energy, corroborated by his brothers’ testaments to his toughness.
Image of CJ Kirst by Cornell Athletics
In the modern day, CJ Kirst is hailed not only for physical ability, but for his unselfishness and dedication to his teammates, earning him an irrefutable position as a Tewaaraton Award finalist for the third year in a row. But for Kirst, the accolades always come second to his teammates. “It was a long time ago, but I was kind of in the same place where they’re just piling you on with individual accolades and awards and this and that– CJ couldn’t care less about all that,” French put it bluntly. “[A championship] this is the one thing he can share with his best friends, his teammates in perpetuity.” French recalled a piece of wisdom he shared with Kirst shortly after their championship win against Maryland, telling him that the joy he was feeling would last forever.
YOUR @CornellLacrosse ARE THE 2025 NCAA DIVISION I NATIONAL CHAMPIONS! 🔴⚪🥍 pic.twitter.com/vSA20Qe8Gk
— Cornell University (@Cornell) May 26, 2025
“It’s just something unbelievable, I know all his classmates, I know his teammates and he’s much more proud of this because this is a shared award and it’s really special for that group,” said French. “I was so happy to see them so joyful and see their parents and see thousands of alumni at the tailgate, just sharing this experience.”
But the train hasn’t stopped yet for Kirst. The NCAA Tournament will make him a late addition to the Waterdogs’ summer training camp ahead of the summer season, and above all, he has the Entry Draft to continue to prepare for. While his ability is on par with any great professional, French added that his IQ will still need work as he acclimates to a new team. “He’s a dynamic player and loves the sport of box lacrosse, and I think he’ll be exceptional,” he said. “There’s nobody that works harder, and he’ll learn an awful lot and he’ll learn really quick.”
Kirst’s draft class is in a unique position as they’re able to learn on the job side-by-side with the living legends of the League. “I think that a lot of those guys are gonna help him with the IQ issue with lacrosse at the NLL level, he’ll have Schriber there, he’ll have a lot of good, experienced guys. I think he’ll be a quick study.”
French is confident that his spiritual successor will enter the NLL with the intention to make waves. “Even though I don’t want to compete against him, the League needs to know that he’s going to be a game changer in a lot of ways,” French praised Kirst, cautioning the League not to take his rookie status lightly. “I’m not going to want to play Toronto with them having three first-round picks and one of them being CJ Kirst.”
