The Indiana State Sycamores are the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Division I intercollegiate athletic teams of

Indiana State University Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified among "D/PU: Doctor ...

. Since the 1977–78 academic year, Indiana State has been a member of the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest. History The MVC was established ...

(MVC). The Indiana State football

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to inf ...

has competed in

Division I FCS The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic ...

since the 1982 season, and has been a member of the

Missouri Valley Football Conference The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), formerly the Gateway Football Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivi ...

(MVFC) since it was spun off from the

Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference The Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference was a women's-only college athletic conference which operated in the midwestern United States from its inception in 1982 to its absorption by the Missouri Valley Conference in 1992. History The Gateway Co ...

(Gateway) when the latter league merged into the MVC in 1992. Past conference memberships include the Indiana College Athletic League (1895–1922), the

Indiana Intercollegiate Conference The Indiana Intercollegiate Conference (IIC) was a college athletic conference in the United States from 1922 to 1950. It consisted of schools in Indiana. The charter members of the conference were Indiana State University, Butler University, DeP ...

(1922–1950), the

Indiana Collegiate Conference The Indiana Collegiate Conference (ICC) was a college athletic conference in the United States from 1951 to 1978. It consisted solely of schools in Indiana. The charter members of the conference were Indiana State University, Butler University, ...

(1950–1968) and the Midwestern Conference (1970–1972). The women's teams were Gateway members from the league's 1982 founding until its absorption by the MVC. In 1986, a year after the Gateway took on football as its only men's sport, the Sycamores football team joined that conference.

History

'Sycamores' nickname and evolution of mascot

Early on in the school's history, the athletes were referred to as the "Fighting Teachers" (one of the school's early names was "Indiana State Teachers College"), until the students chose the name "Sycamores", due to the abundance of sycamore trees in Indiana and especially in the Wabash River Valley; though it is believed that the students voted on 'Sycamores' on a lark, never thinking it would win. During the 1950s and 1960s, the sycamore tree itself was used as Indiana State's

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

. However, as a tree does not lend itself well to an athletic mascot, especially considering Indiana State's in-state rivalries with the

Ball State Cardinals The Ball State Cardinals are the athletic teams that represent Ball State University, located in Muncie, Indiana. The Cardinals are part of the NCAA Division I Mid-American Conference. Charlie Cardinal is the team mascot. The Ball State Uni ...

and

Butler Bulldogs The Butler Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent Butler University, located in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Bulldogs participate in 20 NCAA Division I intercollegiate sports. After leaving the Horizon League following the 2011–12 seas ...

, the university created an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

mascot named "Chief Quabachi", and his "Princess", in 1969. This change paid homage to the fact that ISU was the "State" university of a state named after Indians (prior to statehood Indiana was primarily inhabited by Indians). The university dropped the "Chief Quabachi" mascot in 1989 in response to a variety of objections over use of the Indian caricature and did not have another mascot until 1995, when a blue-and-white gender neutral woodland creature named "Sycamore Sam" became Indiana State's mascot.

Sports sponsored

A member of the

, Indiana State University sponsors six men's and nine women's teams in

sanctioned sports. Indiana State's softball team has appeared in two

Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States. Eight teams participate in the WCWS, which begins with a double-elimination tournament. In other wo ...

in 1974 and 1976.

National championships

National team championships (3)

As of August 1, 2022, Indiana State has won three National Championships; one NCAA team championship, one NAIA team championship and one USBC title. The men's basketball team won the 1950 NAIA National Championship. Kurt Thomas led the men's gymnastics team to the 1977 NCAA National Championship. In 1973 and 1979, the team finished third in the NCAA Championships. In 1971, Coach Margit "Grete" Treiber led the ISU women's gymnastics team to a national runner-up finish at the AIAW National Championships. In 1964, Coach Roger Counsil led the ISU men's freshman gymnastics team to a national runner-up finish at the NCAA Championships. The women's bowling team won the 1984

United States Bowling Congress The United States Bowling Congress (USBC) is a sports membership organization dedicated to ten-pin bowling in the United States. It was formed in 2005 by a merger of the American Bowling Congress—the original codifier of all tenpin bowling stand ...

' National Intercollegiate Championship. The men's basketball team was the NCAA Division I national runner-up in 1979 and the NCAA College Division national runner-up in 1968. The men's basketball team was the national runner-up in the 1946 and 1948 NAIA National Championship Tournaments. The 1950 title team placed eight players on the 1951 Pan-American Games gold medal-winning team. Head Coach John Longfellow also served as co-head coach of the Pan-American Games team.

NCAA National Individual Championships (30)

Indiana State athletes have won 30 NCAA Individual Championships.

NAIA Individual Championships (5)

* John Caddell (Swimming & Diving) – 3 :(1M Diving 1963, 1964; 3M Diving 1964) * Mike Lane (Swimming & Diving) – 1 :(3M Diving 1965) * Larry Dalton (Swimming & Diving) – 1 :(200M Freestyle 1965)

Other Individual Championships (5)

* Sarah Brumgart (Gymnastics) – 1 :(Balance Beam) DGWS National Collegiate Championship – 1971 * Cheryl Pedlow Bridges-Flanagan (Outdoor track) – 2 :(1 mile, 880 yards) DGWS National Collegiate Championship – 1969 * Mike Hanna (Indoor track) – 2 :(Pole Vault) Canadian Indoor National Championship – 1968, 1969

Olympians (8)

Indiana State has produced 8 Olympians; 7 for the United States & 1 (Greggmar Swift) for Barbados. Additionally, several ISU Coaches have US Olympic ties; Roger Counsil was the 1980 US Olympic Gymnastics coach, Erin Gilreath, ass't track & field coach competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics * Kurt Thomas – Gymnastics,

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 P ...

, 1980 Summer Olympics * Benita Edds – Archery,

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

Bruce Baumgartner Bruce Robert Baumgartner (born November 2, 1960) is a retired American freestyle wrestler. He is the current assistant vice president for university advancement and former athletic director at the Edinboro University of Pennsylvania near Erie, Pe ...

– Wrestling,

Gold Medalist A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have be ...

; Silver Medalist

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

;

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

; Bronze Medalist

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Bryan Leturgez Bryan Robert Leturgez (born August 3, 1962) is an American football player, track and field athlete and bobsledder who competed from 1988 to 1998. Biography A native of Indiana, he was born in Terre Haute. His mother and father were in the educa ...

– Bobsleigh (Men's Four) - 1988 Winter Olympics,

1992 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 64 , athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women) , events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines) , opening = 8 February 1992 , closing = 23 February 1992 , opened_by = President François Mitterrand , cauldron ...

, *

Larry Bird Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend", Bird is widely regarded a ...

– Basketball,

* Greggmar Swift – Track & Field (110m hurdles) - 2012 Summer Olympics * Felisha Johnson – Track & Field (shot put) - 2016 Summer Olympics * Noah Malone – Track & Field (4x100 relay),

; (400m sprint), Silver Medalist; (100m sprint), Silver Medalist - 2020 Summer Paralympics

National team athletes & coaches

* Greggmar Swift - 2007-2015, 2019 Barbadian National Track & Field Team * Steve Cooksey - 1998-2013 U.S. National Track & Field Team (Coach) *

- 1982-1996 U.S. National Wrestling Team * Roger Counsil - 1978-1980 U.S. National Gymnastics Team (Coach) * Carl Nicks – 1979 U.S. National Select Basketball Team *

– 1978 U.S. National Basketball Team World Invitational Tournament *

– 1977 U.S. National Basketball Team World University Games * Sarah Brumgart - 1973 U.S. National Team (Rhythmic Gymnastics) * Roger Adkins – 1951 U.S. National Basketball Team Pan American Games *

Dick Atha Richard E. Atha (February 6, 2020) was an American basketball player and coach. Basketball career He played collegiately for the Indiana State Sycamores and scored 1,119 career points. He led the team in scoring during the 1951–52 and 1952–5 ...

– 1951 U.S. National Basketball Team Pan American Games * Richard Babcock – 1951 U.S. National Basketball Team Pan American Games * Bob Gilbert – 1951 U.S. National Basketball Team Pan American Games * Tom Kern – 1951 U.S. National Basketball Team Pan American Games * Gene Lambdin – 1951 U.S. National Basketball Team Pan American Games * Ed Longfellow – 1951 U.S. National Basketball Team Pan American Games * Cliff Murray – 1951 U.S. National Basketball Team Pan American Games

James E. Sullivan Award (2)

Indiana State has produced 2 Sullivan Award winners: * Kurt Thomas 1979 winner; World Champion (1978, 1979), NCAA Champion (1977) (men's gymnastics) *

1995 winner; Olympic Champion (1984, 1992), World Champion (1986, 1993, 1995), Pan-American Champion (1987, 1991, 1995), NCAA Champion (1982) (freestyle wrestling)

All-Americans (171)

Indiana State has produced 174 All-Americans: * The Men's Gymnastics Team leads with 46 All-Americans (1964–1980). * The Football Team has 34 All-Americans (1967–2019) * The Baseball Team has produced 26 All-Americans (1963–2000) * The Women's Cross-Country & Track and Field Teams have produced 26 All-Americans (1969–2021) * The Men's Cross-Country & Track and Field Teams have produced 21 All-Americans (1958–2017) * The Men's Basketball Team has produced 14 All-Americans (1930–1979) * The Wrestling Team produced 7 All-Americans (1933–1986)

Conference champions (98)

Indiana College Athletic League (1900–1922)

*3 titles in baseball

Indiana Intercollegiate Conference (1923–1947)

*6 titles in baseball *5 titles in men's basketball

Indiana Collegiate Conference (1950–1968)

30 titles in baseball, men's basketball, men's cross-country, men's golf, football, men's swimming, men's track & field and wrestling. * Paul Wolf—ICC Baseball Coach of the Year (1958, 1963, 1966 and 1967) * Duane Klueh—ICC Basketball Coach of the Year (1959, 1963, 1966, 1967) * Mark Dean—ICC Football Coach of the Year (1952) * Bill Jones—ICC Football Coach of the Year (1959, 1960, 1963) * Jerry Huntsman—ICC Football Coach of the Year (1966) * Paul Selge—ICC Swimming Coach of the Year (1965) * Chester Sanders—ICC Wrestling Coach of the Year (1966) * Ted Parker—ICC Wrestler of the Year (1966)

Gateway Conference (1982–1992)

4 titles in women's basketball, women's track & field and women's cross-country. * Andi Myers—Gateway Basketball Coach of the Year (1988)

Missouri Valley Conference (1977–present)

*63 titles **15 in men's track & field (11 outdoor, 4 indoor) **13 in women's track & field (7 outdoor, 6 indoor) **9 in men's cross-country **9 in baseball **5 in men's tennis **4 in men's basketball **3 in women's basketball **2 in women's cross-country **2 in softball **1 in women's tennis Of particular note, the Runnin' Sycamores (the men's and women's cross-country and track & field teams) have won 32 titles in the past 26 seasons. :* ''Note'' – All of the above championship information is from the media guides available at www.gosycamores.com or from the Indiana State archives (each yearbook from 1896–1993 is available).

Championship host

Indiana State University has hosted thirteen (2002, 2004–2011, 2013–14, 2016-2017) NCAA Division I cross country championships at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course. ISU will also host the 2018 NCAA Great Lakes Regionals in cross country and the 2019 NCAA Division I Nationals. Indiana State University hosted the 10th NCAA Wrestling Championships in 1937, at a time when the school had yet to establish a wrestling program. In 1965, the University hosted the National NAIA Wrestling tournament. The university also hosted the 1972 US Olympic Trials and the 1975 NCAA Gymnastics National Championships.

Rivalry

Indiana State University's rivalries include the

Illinois State Redbirds The Illinois State Redbirds are the athletic teams that represent Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. Teams play at the NCAA Division I level ( FCS in football). The football team competes in the Missouri Valley Football Conference w ...

, cross-state

(formerly a regional campus of Indiana State) with whom the Sycamores football team competed for the Victory Bell, the

Evansville Purple Aces The Evansville Purple Aces are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of the University of Evansville, located in Evansville, Indiana. The Aces athletic program is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference and competes at the NCAA's Divis ...

and the nearby Eastern Illinois Panthers.

Athletic bands

Indiana State's marching band is called the Marching Sycamores. The marching band performs at home football games and is the feature band at the

Brickyard 400 The Brickyard 400 was an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The inaugural race was held in 1994 and was the first race other than the Indianapolis 500 to be held at the Indianapolis Moto ...

. There are two alternating bands that play at men's and women's basketball games, known as the Blue and White Basketball Bands.

Athletes & coaches

* Clint Barmes (baseball) *

Olympic & World Champion (freestyle wrestling),

James E. Sullivan Award The AAU James E. Sullivan Award, presented by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), is awarded annually in April to "the most outstanding amateur athlete in the United States". Representatives from the AAU created the AAU Sullivan Award with the int ...

(1995) *

(basketball) * Roger Counsil 1980 U.S. Olympic & 1977 NCAA Champion Coach (men's gymnastics) * Glenn M. Curtis (head basketball coach) *

Brian Dorsett Brian Richard Dorsett (born April 9, 1961) is an American former professional baseball player who played eight seasons for the Cleveland Indians, California Angels, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, Cincinnati Reds, and Chicago Cubs of Major ...

(baseball) *

Vencie Glenn Vencie Leonard Glenn (born October 26, 1964) is a former American football safety in the National Football League. He was drafted by the New England Patriots in the second round of the 1986 NFL Draft. He starred in college football at Indiana Sta ...

(football) *

Robert Griswold Robert Griswold (born November 27, 1996) is an American swimmer. He was a member of the 2016 and 2020 U.S. Paralympic Swimming Teams. He holds multiple American and world paralympic swimming records in freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, and ind ...

(swimming) * Bill Hayes (MLB baseball) *

Bill Hodges William Oscar Hodges (born March 9, 1943) is an American basketball coach. He was the head basketball coach at Indiana State University from 1978 to 1982, at Georgia College and State University from 1986 to 1991 and at Mercer University from 199 ...

(head basketball coach) *

Tunch Ilkin Tunch Ilkin (born Tunç Ali İlkin; September 23, 1957 – September 4, 2021) was a Turkish-born player of American football and sports broadcaster. A two-time Pro Bowl selection as an offensive tackle with the Pittsburgh Steelers, he was the f ...

(football) *

Duane Klueh Duane M. Klueh (born January 6, 1926) is an American retired basketball player and coach. Born in Bottineau, North Dakota, he was raised in Terre Haute, Indiana and still lives there today; he was the head men's basketball coach at Indiana State ...

(basketball, player and coach) * Felisha Johnson (track, shot put) * Bob King (head basketball coach) *

(Olympic bobsledding) * Sean Manaea (baseball) *

Thad Matta Thad Michael Matta (born July 11, 1967) is an American college basketball coach and the current head coach of the Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team. From 2004 to 2017, Matta led the Ohio State Buckeyes to five Big Ten Conference regular seas ...

(basketball coach) * Carl Nicks (basketball) *

Jake Odum Jacob Andrew "Jake" Odum (born February 11, 1991) is an Assistant basketball coach for Indiana State. He's also a former American professional basketball player who last played for Pistoia Basket 2000 of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). H ...

(basketball) * Brian Omogrosso (baseball) * Sean Payton (football coach) * Jake Petricka (baseball) * Dave Schellhase (head basketball coach) *

Steve Smith Stephen, Steve, Stevie, or Steven Smith may refer to: Academics * Steve Smith (political scientist) (born 1952), British international relations theorist and senior university manager * Stephen Smith (journalist) (born 1956), American journalist, ...

(track and field) Silver Medalist, 1995 Pan-Am Games * Gordon Stauffer (head basketball coach) * Zane Smith (baseball) * Greggmar Swift (Olympic hurdler) *

Joe Thatcher Joseph Andrew Thatcher (born October 4, 1981) is an American college baseball coach and former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim an ...

(baseball) * Kurt Thomas World & NCAA Champion (men's gymnastics),

(1979) * Robert Tonyan (football) * John Wooden 10x NCAA Champion (head basketball coach)

References

External links

* {{Indiana Sports