The rumors have been circulating for the better part of a year. The predictions have flowed in over the past few weeks.

Now, it’s official — Rob Pannell is headed to the Premier Lacrosse League. The league announced the news on Twitter Monday morning.

Welcome to the PLL, @RobPannell3 pic.twitter.com/4sni8W1WCe

— Premier Lacrosse League (@PremierLacrosse) March 9, 2020

Pannell, who has spent the past nine season with the MLL’s New York Lizards, signed a two-year contract with the team in 2017. That contract ended March 1, making Pannell a pro lacrosse free agent.

Having spent last season with the Lizards while many of his closest friends and teammates left for the PLL, Pannell said he had tough time playing through the summer. The Lizards went 5-11.

“It was difficult,”​ Pannell said. “For the first time in 21 years of playing this game, I didn’t love playing … I wasn’t having fun, and it was a job. I missed my guys.”

Pannell comes to the PLL with a resume virtually unmatched in the sport. He tallied 430 points in his nine season with the Lizards, winning MVP honors in 2018 after dropping 78 points on 43 goals and 35 assists.

Pannell was a member of the U.S. men’s national team in 2014 and 2018, earning all-world honors both times. In 2014, he led the U.S. in scoring with 32 points and was named the tournament’s outstanding attackman. In 2018, he tied for the U.S. team lead with 11 assists, including the assist on Tom Schreiber’s game-winning goal in the gold medal game victory over Canada. He ranks fifth in U.S. team history with 27 goals, third in assists with 26 and fourth in points with 53.

“I think I was forgotten about for one summer,”​ Pannell said. “I’m back.”