March 20, 2026, 7:00 p.m. ET
The Men’s NCAA Tournament is a melting pot of college teams. There are the powerhouses that make their way into it every year. Some mid-majors win conference tournaments to win an automatic berth. And there are schools from the smaller conferences that produce entries people have rarely, if ever, heard of. This year, one of those “Cinder-fellas” is Queens, the ASUN tournament winner. And the name might fool fans, but Queens is not one of the boroughs in New York.
Here’s what to know about the No. 15 seed…
Where is Queens University located?
The school is in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Queens University division and conference
The Royals played in the Division II South Atlantic Conference for nine seasons before joining the Atlantic Sun on July 1, 2022. In three of its four seasons in the Division 1 ASUN, Queens has had an above .500 record, winning anywhere from 14 to the 21 games it did this season.
What is Queens University’s mascot
The Royals’ mascot is Rex the Lion.
Why does Queens University have a ceramic dog?
For the NCAA tournament, the basketball team unveiled a ceramic figurine named Buddy, which the team notes is their “spirit animal.”
Why does Queens University’s coach wear sweaters?
Axios.com reported that Grant Leonard has chided years ago for not having enough time to enjoy the holidays because of the basketball season. “To compensate, I started wearing joyous holiday sweaters to bring out the festive mood,” Leonard said. He suggested earlier this week his garb on Friday would be green, in reference to St. Patrick’s Day, which just passed.
How many students attend Queens University?
Talk about a small school getting into the Big Dance … Queen has an undergraduate enrollment of slightly more than 1,200 undergraduate students. There are anywhere from 375 to 550 graduate students, too. In September, it announced that the school was going to merge with Elon University. That is expected to happen by August.
Queens University acceptance rate
The school is noted to have an acceptance rate of 57%-68%, which is classified as “moderately selective.”
Queens University basketball roster
Leonard uses eight players in just about every game. There are a couple of others who have seen action in 25 or more. The Royals average 85 points per game and have six players in double figures on the season. Guard Nasir Mann leads the way at 13.4 ppg and 5.8 rebounds. The second-leading scorer Yoav Berman is from Tel Aviv, Israel.