Report: Queens University of Charlotte reclassifying to Division I

Another university will be joining the Division I lacrosse ranks next season.

Division II Queens University of Charlotte is reportedly reclassifying to Division I and join the ASUN, according to D1Baseball's Kendall Rogers. The Royals would join beginning in the upcoming 2022-23 academic year. This comes after CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein reported early in February that the university would vote on a possible transition to Division I.

Queens becomes the second Division II school with men's and women's lacrosse to move up to Division I. Back in February, Lindenwood announced a move to the D1 level. The men's lacrosse team has found a home in the ASUN, while the women's program has yet to find a conference (UPDATE: They will also join the ASUN). The Lions will become members of the Ohio Valley Conference. Stonehill also announced they were transitioning to Division I and the Northeast Conference earlier in April. The Skyhawks have a women's lacrosse program.

On the men's side, Queens would become the 75th D1 program (76 if you include Hartford who will be in their final year at the Division I level next year) and the 10th in the ASUN, which would surpass the Patriot League for most members in a conference. The Royals have appeared in the NCAA Tournament twice, most recently in 2019 falling in overtime to UIndy.

Queens is currently 11-4 this year and play Newberry in the South Atlantic Conference quarterfinals on Tuesday. Chris Panos has been head coach since the 2019 season, but former Mercer head coach Kyle Hannan joined this past summer as the team's associate head coach.

This is what the current men's lacrosse landscape looks like. The Atlantic 10 conference and Mount St. Mary's to the MAAC have not been made official, but both should happen barring last minute changes.

On the women's side, Queens would become the 125th D1 program (126 if you include Hartford) and the 7th in the ASUN. Queens lost to fellow soon-to-be D1 program Lindenwood in last year's national championship after falling to West Chester in the 2019 national semifinals.

The Royals are currently 17-0 and the number one program in Division II with their conference tournament starting this weekend. Clare Short leads the Royals as they continue their historically best era.