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ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ men’s lacrosse team midfielder Kyle Lewis was selected in the fourth round of the 2026 Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) College Draft on April 14 by the Philadelphia Waterdogs as the 29th overall selection.

Described as a player with “firecracker feet,” the defending national Midfielder of the Year, two-time NCAA Champion and All-American is the first Adelphi Panther ever to be drafted to a team in the , which was co-founded in 2018 by Paul Rabil.

Lewis, a senior majoring in exercise science, was the only Division II student-athlete selected in the draft and just one of two non-Division I players, joining Jack Regnery from DIII Tufts University.

During the 70 games in his Adelphi career, the Franklin Square, New York, native has scored more than 100 times, including the overtime game winner in the 2025 title game. As the PLL draft was airing on ESPNU on Tuesday, Lewis was busy scoring a season-high four goals in the No. 1 Adelphi lacrosse team’s crucial top 10 matchup against No. 9 Pace University.

“If I had to describe Kyle, I’d say he’s elite on the field and unmatched in character,” said Head Coach Gordon Purdie ’88. “The PLL isn’t just getting one of the greatest athletes I’ve ever coached, they are getting one of the most sincere men I’ve ever known.”

Returning to the site of the Adelphi lacrosse program’s eighth national championship in Philadelphia in 2024, Lewis will play for Bill Tierney, who coached at the University of Denver and Princeton before joining the PLL coaching ranks. Tierney is also a Long Island native.

Lewis joins a list of Adelphi greats to make it to the next level of professional lacrosse, including teammate Dylan Renner, who was picked up by the Utah Archers following the 2025 National Championship and was the first Division II player to be drafted to the PLL since 2021. Current Adelphi assistant coach Greg Puskuldjian ’14, from Glen Head, New York, was the 13th pick in the 2020 PLL Player Entry Draft after coming over from Major League Lacrosse when the leagues merged.

There was a time when Lewis considered other options, entering the transfer portal last summer to weigh the possibility of transferring to a Division I institution. After choosing to remain in Garden City, he was named both the USA Lacrosse Magazine Preseason Player of the Year and Midfielder of the Year and was the only Division II player to be on the first installment of the prestigious Tewaaraton Watch List at the start of 2026.

“Being selected in the draft is a by-product of Kyle’s perseverance and commitment to lacrosse,” said Greg Bouris, an assistant teaching professor of sport management at Adelphi with more than 35 years of experience in the professional sports industry. “It is also a testament to the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ athletic program. Under Coach Purdie’s guidance, Adelphi has maintained its status as one of the most successful lacrosse programs in the entire NCAA ecosystem. Kyle’s selection, in the backdrop of the NIL and transfer portal era, also confirms that an athlete with the skill level to play professionally should make their collegiate choices based on a number of factors, including the fact that the individual will be a non-player for most of their lives.”

The ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ men’s lacrosse team is riding a 22-game win streak that dates back to the 2025 season, including a 13-0 stretch this year. Lewis and the team conclude their regular season on Saturday, April 18, at Motamed Field in Garden City, New York, and will earn the regular season Northeast 10 crown for the third time in the past five seasons.