Kansas State Wildcats
Kansas State Wildcats | |
---|---|
Bill Snyder Family Stadium | |
Basketball arena | Bramlage Coliseum |
Baseball stadium | Tointon Family Stadium |
Soccer stadium | Buser Family Park |
Golf course | Colbert Hills |
Mascot | Willie the Wildcat |
Nickname | Wildcats |
Fight song | Wildcat Victory |
Colors | Royal purple and white[2] |
Website | www |
The Kansas State Wildcats (variously "Kansas State", "K-State", or "KSU") are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Kansas State University. The official color of the teams is Royal Purple; white and silver are generally used as complementary colors.[3]
Kansas State participates in the
Athletics Department overview
Kansas State offers fourteen sports at a varsity level. As of May 2018, Kansas State has won more than 80 conference championships through the years, not counting titles captured in the old Kansas Intercollegiate Athletic Association (see chart below).[4] Kansas State has not won any team NCAA championships, but has several individual national champions.[5][6]
The Kansas State athletic department is one of a limited number in the United States, and the only one in Kansas, that operates with no monetary contribution from the broader academic institution.[7] The most recent change in athletic teams offered at Kansas State occurred when the school began a women's soccer program in the fall of 2016, and discontinued women's equestrian at the conclusion of the 2015–16 season.[8]
History
Athletic competition began within the first decade after the founding of Kansas State Agricultural College in 1863, as students began organizing and playing games of baseball against locals from Manhattan.[9][10] Beginning in 1890, a baseball game between the faculty and the senior class became an annual feature of graduation day.[10]
According to most sources, intercollegiate competition began on Thanksgiving Day 1893, when Kansas State's football team defeated St. Mary's College 18–10.[9][11][12] A baseball match against St. Mary's College followed on May 26, 1894.[9][10] (St. Mary's was a regional athletics powerhouse, whose recent graduates included baseball pioneers Charles Comiskey and Ted Sullivan.) These matches are not, however, reflected in the school's official histories, and the first official contest recorded is a 14–0 loss to Fort Riley in a football game on November 28, 1896.[13]
By the turn of the century, Kansas State was competing in the
The school's commitment to athletics dipped thereafter. According to longtime Wildcat radio announcer Dev Nelson, after World War II Kansas State was one of the few major schools that didn't make a significant investment in its football program, or athletics overall.[14] Indeed, for many years the Wildcats spent far less on athletics than any other Big Eight school.[14] Between 1969 and 1975 the school added women's programs, but also cut four men's sports: men's swimming, wrestling, men's gymnastics and men's tennis. As recently as 1987–1988 the University of Oklahoma (the Big Eight's second smallest school) spent $12.5 million on athletics while Kansas State spent only $5.5 million.[14] In more recent decades, however, the school has recommitted significant resources to athletics, and in 2012 it was the most profitable athletics department in the United States.
In 2012–2013, Kansas State became the second Big 12 school to win conference titles in football, men's basketball, and baseball in the same school year.[15] In the 2007–2008 school year, Kansas State was the only school in the nation to have a consensus All-America in both football (Jordy Nelson) and men's basketball (Michael Beasley).[16]
Administration
Athletics at Kansas State University are administered by the University's Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. The department is headed by the Athletic Director.
Director | Years | Notes |
---|---|---|
Z.G. Clevenger |
1916–1920 | First Athletic Director, member of College Football Hall of Fame |
Mike Ahearn | 1920–1947 | Considered "Father of Kansas State Athletics" |
Thurlo McCrady | 1947–1950 | |
Larry Mullins | 1951–1955 | |
Bebe Lee | 1956–1968 | Member of National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Hall of Fame |
Ernie Barrett | 1969–1975 | Known as "Mr. K-State" |
Johny "Jersey" Jermier | 1976–1977 | |
DeLoss Dodds | 1978–1981 | Resigned to become athletic director at the University of Texas |
Dick Towers | 1981–1985 | |
Larry Travis | 1985–1988 | |
Steve Miller | 1988–1991 | Hired Bill Snyder as football coach in December 1988 |
Milt Richards | 1991–1993 | |
Max Urick | 1993–2001 | |
Tim Weiser | 2001–2008 | Resigned from K-State to become the Big 12 's deputy commissioner
|
Bob Krause | 2008–2009 | |
John Currie | 2009–2017 | |
Laird Veatch | March–April 2017 | Interim |
Gene Taylor | 2017–present |
Conference membership history
- 1899–1913: Kansas Intercollegiate Athletic Association
- 1913–1927: Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association
- 1928–1947: Big 6 Conference
- 1948–1957: Big 7 Conference
- 1958–1995: Big 8 Conference
- 1996–present: Big 12 Conference
Note: Two women's sports historically competed in other conferences when those sports were not sponsored by KSU's primary conference. Women's basketball competed in the "Kansas State Conference" for regular-season titles before the Big 8 began sponsoring a regular-season competition in 1982–1983, and women's rowing competed in Conference USA from 2010 through 2014.
Sports sponsored
Men's sports | Women's sports |
---|---|
Baseball | Basketball |
Basketball | Cross country |
Cross country | Golf |
Football | Rowing |
Golf | Soccer |
Track and field† | Tennis |
Track and field† | |
Volleyball | |
† – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor. |
Baseball
The Wildcats call Tointon Family Stadium home. The team's head coach is Pete Hughes.
Kansas State's baseball team officially began play in 1897. The Wildcats earned one of the school's first varsity championship in 1907 under coach
The Wildcats have traditionally not been competitive on a national scale, but in
Other milestones in the team's history include
Basketball
The men's and women's basketball teams play their home games in Bramlage Coliseum, nicknamed the "Octagon of Doom".
Men's basketball
Kansas State's men's basketball team began competition in 1902. The program has a long history of success. The first two major conference titles captured by the school were won in the sport, in 1917 and 1919, in the
After a lengthy period with little success during the 1990s and 2000s, Kansas State returned to winning under head coaches
On March 21, 2022, KSU athletic director Gene Taylor announced that Baylor associate head coach Jerome Tang had been named the new head men's basketball coach for the Wildcats, starting with the 2022–23 season.
Women's basketball
Kansas State's women's basketball team began intercollegiate competition in 1968. The team is among the top 15 all-time winningest programs in the NCAA.
The women's team has participated in 21 total
The current head coach is Jeff Mittie.
Football
Kansas State's football team officially began play in 1896 with a 14–0 loss to Fort Riley on November 28, 1896.[19] The program had some shining moments in the 1920s and 1930s, but by 1989 the school was statistically the worst program in NCAA Division I with a record of 299–509–41.[14]
Fortunes changed when
The team plays its home games at
The current coach is Chris Klieman, who succeeded Snyder upon his second retirement at the conclusion of the 2018 season. Through five seasons, Klieman has a record of 39-24.
Track and field
Kansas State began competing in track and field in 1904. The team has won 23 major conference championships. Its athletes have also achieved considerable national success.
Through the end of the 2015–2016 season, K-State athletes have won individual NCAA national championships 37 times. Twenty-four Kansas State athletes have attended 15 Olympic Games, most recently at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and have won eight medals.
The head coach of the program since 1992 is Cliff Rovelto. Rovelto has won a number of coach of the year awards during his tenure at Kansas State, including 2015 Big 12 Coach of the Year for women's indoor track and field. He also served as head coach for the U.S. Track & Field team at the 2011 Pan American Games, and as an assistant coach for the U.S. team at a number of other competitions including the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2005 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki.
Former coach
Volleyball
The team currently plays in Morgan Family Arena, north of the main campus adjacent to the football stadium and basketball arena.
Kansas State's women's volleyball team began intercollegiate competition in 1974. The team is among the all-time winningest programs in the NCAA.
As of the close of the 2017 season, the team has participated in 17
The current head coach is Jason Mansfielf, hired in January 2023, replacing Susie Fritz.
Fritz had led the Wildcats to several NCAA tournament appearances and the school's first conference title in volleyball in 2003. As of the close of the 2008 season, Fritz also holds the second-highest winning percentage among all K-State's volleyball coaches after compiling a record of 148–70 (.679). In eight seasons as head coach, through the end of the 2008 season, Fritz has coached six All-Americans.[21]
Notable non varsity sports
Rugby
Kansas State rugby plays in the
Rivalries
Kansas Jayhawks (Sunflower Showdown)
The first recorded meeting between Kansas State and KU in athletic competition was a baseball game in 1898. Since the early 20th century, when the schools began regularly competing in baseball, basketball, and football, the two teams schools and fans have developed a passionate rivalry.
- Men's basketball
The rivalry on the hardwood peaked in the 1950s when both teams were national title contenders. A facilities race also began in the 1950s, starting with the construction of Kansas State's
- Football
Historically, neither football program has had sustained success. The rivalry intensified for a period in the early 1990s as both teams entered the national rankings. In 1991 Head Coach Bill Snyder gained his first win against the Jayhawks and over the next 12 years Kansas would only beat the Wildcats once, in 1992, until KU finally won again in a home game in 2004. The rivalry intensified again in the 2000s as Kansas returned to relevance under Mark Mangino and the Wildcats struggled under Ron Prince.
The Wildcats have won the last 14 meetings in the series, ten under Snyder during his second tenure (2009-18) and four under Chris Klieman.
Since 1969, the two teams have competed for the
Nebraska Cornhuskers
- Football
After the creation of the Big 12 Conference in 1996, through the early 2000s, the Wildcats and Cornhuskers consistently competed for the Big 12 North championship. Before the 1990s, however, the series was severely one-sided, with Kansas State losing 29 consecutive games to Nebraska until November 14, 1998 when the #1-ranked Wildcats beat #11 Nebraska 40–30. Kansas State subsequently beat Nebraska in 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2004. Nebraska still leads the series 78-15-2.
- Volleyball
Nebraska was the Wildcats' biggest volleyball rival before leaving for the Big Ten Conference in 2011. Both teams were ranked in the AVCA Top 25 almost weekly during the Big 12 era, and Kansas State home games against Nebraska were promoted with T-shirts that read "Keep The Red Out."
Civil rights pioneer
Sexual orientation
In July 2017, Kansas State football player Scott Frantz announced to ESPN that he is gay. When the Wildcats opened their season on September 2, 2017, Frantz became the first openly gay college football player to play at the NCAA's highest level.[25]
Racial integration
Kansas State historically has been welcoming to all races. The university has been open to enrollment by African Americans since its founding in 1863,
Football
In 1949,
Baseball
In the spring of 1951, the conference color barrier in baseball was broken by Kansas State's Earl Woods (the father of golf great Tiger Woods). An indicator of the controversial nature of this position is reflected in an article published in The Tulsa World about an incident that occurred in the early 1950s during a baseball game:[27]
Former teammate Larry Hartshorn recalled an instance when the Wildcats were scheduled to play a spring game against a team from Mississippi. During warm-ups, the Mississippi coach took notice of Earl, and according to Hartshorn, the coach said his team would play the game only if the black player stayed on the bus. Instead, K-State coach Ray Wauthier put everybody on the bus. "We just left", Hartshorn said.
Men's basketball
In the winter of 1951–1952, Kansas State's Gene Wilson broke the conference color barrier in basketball, together with LaVannes Squires at the University of Kansas.[28]
Championships
The Wildcats have won 68 regular-season conference championships and 13 conference tournaments, with the men’s basketball program claiming the most of any sport. Kansas State, along with Virginia Tech and UCF,[A] is one of only three Power Five conference schools that have never won a team national championship in an NCAA sanctioned sport.[29] The Wildcats also won 3 divisional titles in football when the Big 12 had divisions from 1996 to 2010.
Major conference regular-season championships (1913–present)* | ||
---|---|---|
Sport | Titles | Year(s)[30][31][32][33] |
Football | 4 | |
Men's basketball | 18 |
|
Women's basketball | 13 |
|
Baseball | 4 |
|
Women's volleyball | 1 |
|
Cross country, men | 13 |
|
Cross country, women | 3 |
|
Indoor track and field, men | 3 |
|
Indoor track and field, women | 1 |
|
Outdoor track and field, men |
1 |
|
Outdoor track and field, women |
4 |
|
Wrestling (discontinued) | 3 |
|
Boxing (discontinued) | 1 |
|
Total | 68 |
Major conference tournament championships (1913–present)* | ||
---|---|---|
Sport | Titles | Years |
Women's basketball | 4 |
|
Men's basketball | 9 |
|
Total | 13 |
- * Not counting titles earned in the Kansas Intercollegiate Athletic Association, through the 1912–13 school year. Kansas State captured at least ten championships in the old Kansas Conference, in track (1906, 1908, 1909), baseball (1907, 1908), football (1909, 1910, 1912), and basketball (1910, 1913).
Mascot
Notable athletes
Notes
- ^ UCF claims a 2017 football championship awarded by Colley Matrix. However, this championship is not widely recognized and was not bestowed by the NCAA.
References
- ^ "Athletics Director Gene Taylor". Kansas State Wildcats. April 17, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
- ^ Kansas State University Athletics Public Branding Guide (PDF). May 18, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
- ^ "Traditions". Kansas State Wildcats. June 30, 2015. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
- ^ "Kansas State Athletics Website". Retrieved March 5, 2012.
- ^ "NCAA Men's Championships" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 27, 2010. Retrieved June 3, 2009.
- ^ "NCAA Women's Championships" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 27, 2010. Retrieved June 3, 2009.
- ^ "K-State athletics achieves balanced budget". The Manhattan Mercury. July 20, 2017. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
- ^ "K-State to Discontinue Equestrian and Add Soccer" (Press release). Archived from the original on October 16, 2014. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7006-1832-3.
- ^ a b c d e Willard, Julius (1940). History of Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science. Kansas State College Press.
- ISBN 1-58497-004-9.
- ^ Kansas State University: A Pictorial History, 1863–1963 (Manhattan, Kansas: Kansas State University), 1962.
- ^ "Year-by-Year Results for Kansas State". Archived from the original (English) on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
- ^ a b c d Looney, Douglas (September 4, 1989). "Futility U". Sports Illustrated.
- ^ "Is K-State nation's hottest school?". Associated Press. March 12, 2013. Archived from the original on March 15, 2013. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
- ^ "All-American fact" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 26, 2009.
- ^ Baseball Magazine. February 1909.
{{cite journal}}
: Missing or empty|title=
(help) - ^ "K-State Baseball Enters Top 25". Archived from the original on January 27, 2013.
- ^ "Year-by-Year Results for Kansas State" (English). Retrieved August 31, 2009. [dead link]
- ^ "AP Poll Streaks". College Poll Archive. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
- ^ "Susie Fritz biography". K-State Athletics website. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
- ^ "Kansas State/Ft. Riley Rugby Football Club". K-state.edu. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
- ^ Rugby Mag, Final Men's D1 College Top 25, 2010/2011, May 17, 2011, "Final Men's DI College Top 25, 2010/2011". Archived from the original on June 17, 2013. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
- ^ "Rugby Today – Enrich Your Lifestyle". Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
- ^ Zeigler, Cyd (September 4, 2017). "Big XII football team with openly gay player wins by 36 points. So much for distractions". Outsports. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
- ^ "Athlete Who Broke Big 12 Race Barrier Dies". CBS College Sports. May 13, 2006. Archived from the original on September 3, 2006. Retrieved March 17, 2010.
- ^ "Tiger was raised by a Wildcat". The Tulsa World. August 3, 2007. Retrieved September 12, 2008.
- ^ "Flawed history amended". Lawrence Journal-World. September 12, 2008. Retrieved September 12, 2008.
- ^ "VT now one of two Power 5 schools never to win team sport title". NBCSports.com.
- ^ "BigEightSports.com". Retrieved August 13, 2013.
- ^ "Big Eight Conference basketball history" (PDF). Big 12 Conference. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
- ^ "Big Eight Conference football record book" (PDF). Big 12 Conference. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
- ^ "All-Time Big 12 Championships". Big12Sports.com. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
- ^ Wiebrecht, F.E., ed. (1926). Royal Purple. Kansas State. p. 224.