SAN DIEGO, CA – The San Diego Seals announced onSeptember 13 that the franchise has agreed to terms with star forward Austin Staats for a three-year deal, pending league approval.
The 20-year-old forward and The World Games Athlete of The Month for January 2019, The head coach and general manager of the team noted that it was an “exciting day” to have Staats resigned for the next three consecutive seasons, and once the deal goes through, the organization can’t wait to put the star to work once again.
Staats was the first overall pick in the 2018 NLL Entry Draft. He finished his rookie season with 32 goals and 61 points in 14 games played. He led all rookies in goals and points and ranked second in assists despite missing the final four games with an ACL injury. Staats was named the 2018-19 NLL Rookie of the Year and was named to the NLL All-Rookie Team.
The lefty led the team in points eleven weeks in a row to open his rookie year. In 14 games played, Staats notched five hat tricks and recorded seven games with five or more points. He was named NLL Rookie of the Week four times and was the only rookie to earn NLL Player of the Week honors after netting five goals and four assists in his NLL debut.
Coming back from the ACL injury, Staats will return to the floor with the Seals for their second season in December at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego.
