RENO, Nev. – After spending the last six seasons operating in MCLA Division II, the University of Nevada men’s lacrosse team will be moving back to Division I this spring. The Wolf Pack, who are sponsored by Under Armour, will remain in the Western Collegiate Lacrosse League (WCLL) despite the divisional change.

“When I first came here, I had to change the culture because I wanted to elevate the team back to Division I status,” said Nevada coach Chris Tatro. “I feel we have done a good job at that, but there is still room to grow.”

After struggling with the likes of Sonoma State, Stanford and California, the program opted to drop down to MCLA Division II while it revamped its program. Now, after years of building up the program, combined with an incredible amount of success at the Division II level, Tatro feels that they belong back with the Division I teams.

“It’s taken a lot of work, and culture change, but I wanted to play the best teams on the West Coast,” he said. “Now we will be.”

Nevada’s schedule features strong competition for its reemergence on the D-I scene, with four opponents ranked in the top 25 – three of which are in the Wolf Pack’s own conference. Nevada will also play Oregon, California, Dominican, Simon Fraser and Boise State, all of which were ranked last year.

The schedule is consistent with Tatro’s approach of attracting quality student-athletes to Nevada with stiff competition to complement the outstanding educational opportunity provided in Reno.

“In order to be the best, you have to play the best,” Tatro said. “I’ve put together a very strong schedule in Division I, and I think our lacrosse team will be constantly challenged week in and week out. I can’t wait. We have one of the strongest conferences top to bottom in the country, and I feel very fortunate to be playing them. Hopefully, we can represent our conference well when we play all our out-of-conference games.”

Outside of lacrosse, the University of Nevada is a nationally ranked Tier 1 university with over 145 degree programs. It’s one of the nation’s top public research universities, and also boasts successful NCAA Division I football and basketball programs.

You can contact Coach Tatro at [email protected] or check out their website at www.nevadalax.com