Davidson Wildcats
| Davidson Wildcats | |
|---|---|
 | |
| University | Davidson College |
| Conference | Atlantic 10 Conference, Pioneer Football League |
| NCAA | Division I FCS |
| Athletic director | Jim Murphy |
| Location | Davidson, North Carolina |
| Varsity teams | 19 |
| Football stadium | Richardson Stadium |
| Basketball arena | John M. Belk Arena |
| Baseball stadium | T. Henry Wilson, Jr. Field |
| Nickname | Wildcats |
| Colors |
Black and Red[1] |
| Website |
www |
The Davidson Wildcats are the intercollegiate athletics teams representing Davidson College of Davidson, North Carolina, United States.[2] The Wildcats compete in the NCAA Division I Football Championship as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference[3] for most sports. The Wildcats joined the A-10[4] on July 1, 2014, restoring a Charlotte-area presence to that conference after the Charlotte 49ers rejoined Conference USA in 2013. The Wildcats previously competed in the Southern Conference, and retain associate membership in that league for wrestling.
Teams
A member of the Atlantic 10 Conference, Davidson College sponsors teams in eleven men's and ten women's NCAA sanctioned sports:[5]
| Men's Intercollegiate Sports | Team Article | Head Coach | Women's Intercollegiate Sports | Team Article | Head Coach | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baseball | Wildcats baseball | Dick Cooke | Basketball | Michele Savage | ||
| Basketball | Wildcats men's basketball | Bob McKillop | Cross country | Jen Straub | ||
| Cross country | Jen Straub | Field Hockey | Ginny Turner | |||
| Football [v 1] | Wildcats football | Paul Nichols | Lacrosse | Kim Wayne | ||
| Golf | Tim Straub | Soccer | Greg Ashton | |||
| Soccer | Wildcats men's soccer | Matt Spear | Swimming & Diving | John Young | ||
| Swimming & Diving | John Young | Tennis | Sara Anundsen O'Leary | |||
| Tennis | Drew Barrett | Track & Field (Indoor & Outdoor) | Jen Straub | |||
| Track & Field (Indoor & Outdoor) | Jen Straub | Volleyball | Chris Willis | |||
| Wrestling [v 2] | Wildcats wrestling | Bob Patnesky |
- Notes
- ↑ The football team competes as a member of the Pioneer Football League, a non-scholarship Division I (FCS) league.
- ↑ The wrestling team competes as an Associate member of the Southern Conference.
Football
Bowl Games
| Season | Bowl | Winner | Loser | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Tangerine Bowl | Toledo | 56 | Davidson | 33 |
| 1990 | Exhibition Bowl | Davidson | 35 | Baptist | 17 |
| 1994 | Bermuda Bowl[6] | Davidson | 28 | Sewanee | 14 |
Men's basketball
Davidson's basketball team first reached considerable success in the 1960s under Coach Lefty Driesell, when Sports Illustrated ranked it No. 1 in the country prior to the 1964–65 season.[7]
The Wildcat men have competed in 11 NCAA tournaments (1966, 1968–70, 1986, 1998, 2002, 2006–08, and 2012). Their last tournament victory was in 2008 over Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball in the third round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament. With that victory, the Wildcats advanced to the Elite Eight where they lost to the eventual champion Kansas Jayhawks 59–57, capping off an incredible run that saw the rise of Stephen Curry to national prominence. The Wildcats' NCAA Tournament run came after finishing their regular season undefeated in conference play, at 20–0, and as the champions of the Southern Conference Tournament. Curry led the nation in scoring in 2008–09, his last season at Davidson before declaring for the 2009 NBA Draft.
Under the guidance of Coach Bob McKillop, the Wildcats have consistently posted winning seasons. In 2006–07, the team completed its regular-season conference schedule with only one loss and entered the Southern Conference Tournament as a No. 1 seed, where the team would win the Southern Conference Tournament for the second consecutive season.
In 2005–06, the Wildcats went 20–10 and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament after winning the Southern Conference Tournament. In 2004–05, the Wildcats were undefeated in conference play at 16–0 and advanced to the third round of the NIT. In 2001–02, the Wildcats won the Southern Conference Tournament and lost a close game to Ohio State in the first round of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship.
In addition to Driesell and McKillop, a number of notable NCAA men's basketball head coaches have coached at Davidson. Matt Doherty, former head coach of SMU, Notre Dame, North Carolina and Florida Atlantic, experienced his first coaching job as an assistant under McKillop, who, not coincidentally, was Doherty's high school coach on Long Island. Former Virginia head coach and current East Carolina athletic director Terry Holland is a Davidson graduate (Class of 1964) and was Driesell's first recruit at Davidson, before advancing to assistant coaching, head coaching and athletic director duties at Davidson. Larry Brown, who would go on to win an NCAA championship with Kansas in 1988 and NBA championship with Detroit in 2004, began his nomadic head coaching career at Davidson, managing to depart before the start of his first season. Jim Larranaga, who took George Mason to the 2006 Final Four, is a former Davidson assistant coach. Rick Barnes of Texas was also a Davidson assistant.
Men's soccer
The men's soccer team at Davidson was declared a varsity sport in 1956 and had their first All-American player, Claude Finney, just four years later in 1960.
The peak of the soccer program was in 1992 when the team made a run to the NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament Final Four. Led by two-time All-American Rob Ukrop, Davidson finished the regular season 17–5–5, earning an at-large invitation to the NCAA Tournament. Three electrifying wins — two on penalty kicks and one in sudden death overtime — propelled Davidson into the Final Four, which miraculously was being hosted by Davidson on the school's campus. Davidson lost 3–2 in overtime against San Diego in the semifinal game, but the team received plenty of accolades. Ukrop led the nation with 31 goals and 72 points and was awarded the Adi Dassler Award, given to the nation's best player. Head coach Charlie Slagle was awarded NCAA Division I Coach of the Year for men's soccer. Remarkably, all of this was accomplished without the use of a single athletic scholarship on the 1992 team, leading the New York Times to herald the team as "22 educated feet."[8]
Wrestling
The Wildcats wrestling team is coached by Bob Patnesky. The team was established in 1920 and has won 293 dual meets, lost 601, and tied 18. The Wildcats last winning season came in 2004–2005 under the coaching of T. J. Jaworsky and Patnesky. Davidson has never had an All-American wrestler at the NCAA Wrestling Team Championship and has had just eight Southern Conference champions.[9]
Baseball
The Davidson Wildcats baseball team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina, USA. The team is a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference, which is part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. Davidson's first baseball team was fielded in 1902. The team plays its home games at T. Henry Wilson, Jr. Field in Davidson, North Carolina. The Wildcats are coached by Dick Cooke.
Club sports
Croquet
Davidson's two-man golf croquet team has won the National Collegiate Croquet Championship in 2007, 2008, and 2010.[10][11]
References
- ↑ "2017 Davidson Wildcats Baseball Quick Facts" (PDF). 2016-06-01. Retrieved 2016-06-02.
- ↑ "Davidson College". davidson.edu. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ↑ "SoCon". soconsports.com/. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ↑ Gleeson, Scott (May 8, 2013). "USA Today". Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ↑ "(Wildcat logo) Davidson". Davidson College. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
- ↑ "Bermuda Bowl II" (PDF). The NCAA News. 14 December 1994. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
- ↑ Press and Highlights from Davidson Basketball
- ↑ Yannis, Alex (1992-11-28). "22 Educated Feet Take Davidson to Quarterfinals". New York Times.
- ↑ "Davidson College Athletics: wrestling". Davidson College. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ↑ http://www3.davidson.edu/cms/x24273.xml
- ↑ http://www3.davidson.edu/cms/x39859.xml
