MacDonell Ready For The Professional Lacrosse Ranks Following Bonnies Career

In the fall of 2025, Aiden MacDonell gathered in his living room with friends and teammates to watch the National Lacrosse League (NLL) Draft. 

MacDonell, a defenseman for St. Bonaventure’s men’s lacrosse team, had interviewed with multiple teams and was hoping to hear his name selected. Then, he got a phone call.

MacDonell had been selected by the Georgia Swarm in the second round of the 2025 NLL Draft. At 26th overall, the Bonnies’ defenseman was the fourth draft pick by Georgia on the day.

The Swarm already had a bit of familiarity with the Bonnies’ men’s lacrosse program. 

St. Bonaventure alumnus Brett Dobson was selected 11th overall by the organization in the 2022 NLL Draft. Dobson has since started every game in goal for the Swarm over the past four seasons and captured NLL MVP honors this year.

MacDonell and Dobson were teammates at St. Bonaventure in the spring of 2022 when the Bonnies reached the MAAC Championship Game during MacDonell’s freshman season. When MacDonell was drafted last fall, Dobson was the one to deliver the news. 

“My very first call was actually from Dobber,” MacDonell said. “He FaceTimed me and let me know I was getting drafted there, so that was pretty cool.”

While MacDonell had interviewed with several NLL teams during the predraft process, the Swarm actually had not been one of the teams to show interest leading up to draft day.

“It was pretty surprising,” he said. “During the interview process, I’d never spoken to Georgia. It was really exciting though, just like living out a childhood dream.”

Dobson and MacDonell are two professionals that the eight-year-old St. Bonaventure men’s lacrosse program has produced. Across the NLL and Premier Lacrosse League (PLL), 12 different Bonnies have been drafted over the past five years.

One of those professional players is Austin Blumbergs. Now an assistant coach for the Bonnies’ men’s lacrosse program, Blumbergs has played for the Halifax Thunderbirds of the NLL in each of the last two seasons after being selected by Buffalo in the 2022 NLL Draft. Before that, he was a teammate of MacDonell’s.

“Aiden brought leadership and a sense of toughness to the St. Bonaventure lacrosse program from the second he stepped on campus as a freshman,” Blumbergs said. “I was fortunate enough to have a year with him, and he fit right into what our program has been all about since day one.”

Despite finding a landing spot in the draft, MacDonell already had a previous commitment he had to attend to: the Bonnies’ 2026 season. After his senior season in 2025 was cut short by an ACL injury, MacDonell was granted a fifth year of eligibility by the NCAA. He decided to return to the Bonnies as a graduate student.

“The biggest factor for me was not wanting to end my college career on an injury,” he said about his decision to come back to Bonaventure.

His return was also influenced by the new Bonnies’ coach staff, led by head coach Brendan Storrier who came to Bonaventure after an impressive career coaching at the Division II level. As the head coach for four years at Limestone University in South Carolina, his teams posted a 66-13 record and made four straight NCAA Division II Tournament appearances.

MacDonell and other veterans on the men’s lacrosse team assisted in the search for a new coach. According to him, Storrier made his decision to return an easy one.

“I was involved in the interview process for bringing in a new head coach,” MacDonell said. “I really liked Coach Storrier’s vision. It inspired me to come back and give it one more go.”

In his final season as a Bonnie this past spring, MacDonell excelled under the new regime. The graduate student had career-highs in groundballs (20) and caused turnovers (11). In his five-year career as a defenseman at Bonaventure, MacDonell played in 50 games, tied for seventh-most in team history, and finished fifth all-time in the Bonnies’ record book with 31 caused turnovers.

“Aiden MacDonell is a world-class athlete, leader, and most importantly, an even better person,” said junior Patrick Shanahan, a teammate of MacDonell’s at Bonaventure over the past three seasons. “He would do anything for his teammates and program. I’m incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to play with such a skilled player for the last three years, and excited to watch him in his NLL career.”

Earlier this summer, MacDonell officially signed a three-year contract with the Georgia Swarm. He will head to Georgia this coming fall to participate in training camp with the team and will look to help a Swarm squad on the rise after posting a 12-6 record this past season and reaching the NLL semifinals. 

“That gritty toughness and leadership are going to do nothing but help establish himself at the next level, especially as a defender,” Blumbergs said. “The National Lacrosse League is all about grit and who wants it more. Any team can win on any given night, and he is going to have great success with that mindset he brings to his team. I know he is going to continue to work his tail off, and the Georgia Swarm are lucky to have him coming in next season.”