New Mexico State Aggies
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New Mexico State Aggies | |
---|---|
Pistol Pete | |
Nickname | Aggies |
Fight song | Aggie Fight Song |
Colors | Crimson and white[2] |
Website | www |
The
Nickname
The "Aggies" nickname derives from the university's agricultural roots and status as a land grant institution. Prior to 2000 the women's intercollegiate athletic teams were known as the Roadrunners, placing NMSU among the handful of NCAA Division I schools which had separate nicknames and mascots for its men's and women's programs. By the late 1990s sentiment began to grow for the university to adopt a single, uniform mascot for all its athletic teams, and during the 1999–2000 academic year the school's female student athletes voted to adopt the "Aggies" moniker. NMSU's women's teams officially became the Aggies at the start of the 2000–2001 academic year.
History
Conference history
The NMSU Aggies have had various conference affiliations, listed below with the year of change:[4]
- 1931 – Border Conference
- 1962 – Independent
- 1971 – Missouri Valley
- 1983 – Big West (formerly Pacific Coast Athletic Association)
- 2001 – Sun Belt
- 2005 – WAC
- 2023 – Conference USA
NMSU maintains major rivalries with the
The Big West Conference discontinued its sponsorship of football after the 2000 season, and the WAC dropped it following the 2012 season.
On November 5, 2021, an offer to join Conference USA was accepted with a start date of July 2023.[5]
Sports sponsored
Men's sports | Women's sports |
---|---|
Baseball | Basketball |
Basketball | Cross country |
Cross country | Golf |
Football | Soccer |
Golf | Softball |
Tennis | Swimming and diving |
Tennis | |
Track and field† | |
Volleyball | |
† – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor. |
Baseball
New Mexico State's first baseball team was fielded in 1907. The team plays its home games at Presley Askew Field.
Basketball
NMSU Basketball has seen much success throughout the years, highlighted by an NCAA Final Four appearance in 1970. The Aggies basketball program has seen 19 NCAA tournament appearances, 5 NIT Tournament appearances and 16 conference championships. Under Chris Jans, the Aggies won their first NCAA tournament in 2022, the program's first tournament victory in 25 years. After the season, Jans was hired to coach at Mississippi State. His replacement, Greg Heiar, was dismissed on February 15, 2023, in the wake of scandals involving a NMSU basketball player fatally shooting a University of New Mexico student and several NMSU basketball players sexually assaulting a teammate; the university also canceled the rest of the team's games for the 2022–2023 season.[6]
Football
The Aggies won the Sun Bowl in 1959 and 1960 under coach Warren B. Woodson and continued to do well until he was let go in 1967. Since then the Aggies have had only 6 winning seasons and 2 conference championships in 1976 and 1978. The 1976 championship was shared with Tulsa.
NMSU usually plays two big rivalry games each year against
Men's golf
The men's golf team has won 17 conference championships:
- Missouri Valley Conference (5): 1973, 1976, 1980–81, 1983
- Big West Conference (3): 1987^, 1995, 2000^
- Sun Belt Conference (1): 2004
- Western Athletic Conference (8): 2006, 2008–11, 2013–15
^ Co-champions
Aggies who have won at the professional level include
Softball
The Aggie softball team has appeared in one Women's College World Series in 1981.[7]
Volleyball
Since the arrival of head coach Mike Jordan in 1998 the Aggies have established a rich tradition as one of the nation's most consistently competitive mid-major volleyball programs. In Jordan's quarter century at the helm the Aggies have made 10 NCAA Tournament appearances and won or shared a combined 19 regular season and tournament championships across their time in both the Sun Belt[8] and Western Athletic Conferences.[9] In 2006 the Aggies became the first opponent in eight years to defeat perennial national power Hawaii in WAC play, snapping its NCAA record 114-match conference winning streak.[10]
Former varsity sports
- Equestrian - At the time of disbandment in 2017, equestrian was recognized by the NCAA as an "emerging sport" for women, but did not yet have an NCAA-sponsored team championship. The equestrian team formerly competed as a member of the United Equestrian Conference and the National Collegiate Equestrian Association, but was considered by the NCAA to be an Independent.[11]
Athletic facilities
- Aggie Memorial Stadium – Football
- Pan American Center – Men's and women's basketball, Volleyball
- Presley Askew Field – Baseball
- New Mexico State University Golf Course – Men's and women's golf, Men's and women's cross country
- NM State Soccer Athletic Complex – Women's soccer
- NM State Softball Complex – Softball
- NM State Swimming and Diving Complex – Women's swimming and diving
- NM State Tennis Center – Men's and women's tennis
- NMSU Track and Field Complex – Women's outdoor track and field
New Mexico State traditions
Fight song
NMSU's "Aggie Fight Song" is based on a popular turn-of-the-century song titled "Oh Didn't He Ramble." The music and lyrics are similar to songs used by several other universities, most notably Cal ("California Drinking Song") and Ohio State ("I Wanna Go Back to Ohio State"). However, only NMSU uses it as the primary school song. The fight song's lyrics have evoked some controversy in recent years due to the reference to drinking, but a vast majority of students and alumni support preserving the traditional lyrics.
Additionally, during the time that NMSU's women's teams were known as the Roadrunners, an arrangement of the theme song from the
Logo
For many years, NMSU's athletics
The current athletics logo was initially designed in 2005 as part of a plan to remake the university's image on the national stage; Pete's pistol was replaced with a lasso, and his name was briefly officially abbreviated to simply "Pete". In addition to the new logo, the costumed mascot seen at games was also given a new look, losing his six shooters and holster belt in favor of a lasso. The disarming of Pete led to a massive uproar among students, alumni and outsiders demanding the return of Pete's guns. The most popular nickname given to the widely unpopular new mascot was "Lasso Larry". After one year the university changed the mascot in favor of a real student dressed in more traditional cowboy attire, carrying a holster belt and six shooters, and wearing nothing on his head but a black cowboy hat. The "Pistol Pete" name was also restored. In 2007, NMSU modified the "Lasso Larry" logo to remove the lasso and once again depict Pistol Pete carrying pistols, and this is now the official athletics logo.
Notable former Aggie athletes and coaches
Football
- Davon House, current Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback
- Jonte Green, former Detroit Lions cornerback
- LA KISS of the AFL
- Washington Redskinscornerback
- Edmonton Eskimos of the CFL
- Donte Savage, former Green Bay Packers linebacker
- Carl Nicks, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive lineman
- Chris Williams, former New Orleans Saints wide receiver, currently playing with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL
- Buck Pierce, former player of and current QB coach with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL
- NFL linebacker, played in Super Bowl XXIII with the Cincinnati Bengals;
- NFLsafety;
- Nick Cole, current Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman;
- Roy Gerela, former NFL kicker, won three Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers;
- Duriel Harris, former NFL receiver;
- Denver Broncos Ring of Fame;
- Kenton Keith, NFL and CFL running back (Indianapolis Colts, Hamilton Tiger-Cats);
- Donald Malloy, former NFL, CFL, and Arena Football League strong safety[citation needed];
- NFL Europarunning back, third player in NCAA history to rush for 1,000 years in four consecutive seasons;
- Joe Pisarcik, former NFL and CFL quarterback;
- Siddeeq Shabazz, former NFL and CFL safety[citation needed];
- Troy Sienkiewicz, former NFL San Diego Chargers offensive lineman;
- Danny Villanueva, former NFL punter and placekicker, later became a prominent television executive and was instrumental in founding Univision;
- Tony Wragge, current San Francisco 49ers guard;
- NFLlinebacker Seattle Seahawks;
Men's basketball
- NBA guard, won three NBA Championships with Chicago Bulls, former assistant coach of Chicago Bulls;
- NBAguard with Portland, LA, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, Sacramento and Cleveland
- UIC;
- NBAguard, member of 1970 Final Four team;
- Lou Henson, former player and head coach, currently sixth-winningest coach in NCAA history with 779 career wins;
- NBA guard, Los Angeles Lakers, Atlanta Hawks, Portland Trail Blazers, Minnesota Timberwolves and Washington Wizards.[12]
- NBAAll-Star center, member of 1970 Final Four team;
- NBA Head coach of Sacramento Kings;
- WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs, 2005 WNBA Coach of the Year; Former Assistant Coach at the University of New Mexico
- New Jersey Nets
- NBA Most Improved Player
Women's basketball
- WNBA forward for the Cleveland Rockers,[13] only basketball player (male or female) in school history to have her uniform number (40) retired.[14]
References
- ^ Mario Moccia (January 5, 2015). "Mario Moccia Bio – NMStateSports.com – The Official Website of New Mexico State Athletics". NMStateSports.com. Archived from the original on February 3, 2015. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
- ^ "Conference USA Brand Identity Guide" (PDF). June 22, 2023. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
- ^ "The Official Website of New Mexico State Athletics". NMStateSports.com. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
- ^ [1] Archived June 8, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Conference USA Adds Four Members" (Press release). Conference USA. November 5, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
- ^ "NMSU fires coach Heiar in wake of hazing claims". February 15, 2023.
- ISBN 978-0-9893007-0-4.
- ^ "2023 Sun Belt Volleyball Record Book, p.1" (PDF). Retrieved July 30, 2023.
- ^ "2022 WAC Volleyball Record Book, p. 19" (PDF). Retrieved July 30, 2023.
- ^ "NM State Volleyball Media Giude, p. 19" (PDF). Retrieved July 30, 2023.
- ^ "NMSU axes Equestrian program... Again". lcsun-news.com. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
- ^ Reggie Jordan
- ^ [2] Archived November 22, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Former Aggies to be inducted into intercollegiate athletic hall of fame – the Round up – Sports". Archived from the original on September 12, 2004. Retrieved December 23, 2008.