Indiana Collegiate Conference
- This page is about the now defunct Indiana Collegiate Conference (ICC).
| Indiana Collegiate Conference | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1950 |
| Dissolved | 1979 |
| Association | NCAA |
| Division | Division II |
| Members | 8 (final), 13 (total) |
| Sports fielded | 9 |
| Region | Ohio Valley |
| Headquarters | Terre Haute, Indiana |
| Locations | |
The Indiana Collegiate Conference (ICC) was a college athletic conference in the United States from 1951 to 1979. It consisted of schools in Indiana.
The charter members of the conference were Indiana State University, Butler University, Valparaiso University, the University of Evansville, Ball State University, Saint Joseph's College (Indiana), and in 1953 DePauw University.
Contents |
History
Early years
The conference was an off-shoot of the older, larger Indiana Intercollegiate Conference;[1] and was established for the 1950-51 academic year. It took a handful of years before all members were able to play full conference schedules. While the membership was limited to Indiana-based colleges, their profiles varied from the larger, public colleges (Indiana State and Ball State) to the smaller, secular schools such as the Roman Catholic-affiliated Saint Joseph's, to the Methodist-chartered Evansville and Lutheran-established Valparaiso. Independent schools such as Butler and DePauw were also members, Butler having recently been a member of the Mid-American Conference. The ICC would be guided by various commissioners.
In addition to the varied affiliations of the schools themselves, the athletic programs were a mixture of NCAA and NAIA member schools; some (Indiana State and Ball State notably) were simultaneous members of both collegiate athletic associations. Indiana State continued as an NAIA power in men's basketball; their dominance had begun while a Indiana Intercollegiate Conference member; participating in 5 NAIA tournaments and finishing 3rd Nationally in 1953.
The conference celebrated its glory football years in the 1950s and 1960s. Butler won fourteen conference titles; Saint Joseph's won a share of the 1956 NAIA National Football Championship, playing to a 0-0 tie with Montana State. The "football-side" of the conference also became known as the Heartland Collegiate Conference, as Ashland University of Ohio became a member for football only in 1978.
The 1960s were the glory years of ICC basketball, especially the University of Evansville Purple Aces; who under legendary coach Arad McCutchan won NCAA College Division (now Div II) National Titles in 1959, 1960, 1964, 1965 and 1971. The 1968 Indiana State Sycamores were the College Division National Finalists.
The ICC also had many legendary players and coaches over the years. In basketball, Arad McCutchan, Tony Hinkle, John Longfellow, Gene Bartow and Duane Klueh all served as head coaches in the conference. Some notable ICC players included Jerry Sloan, Bobby Plump, Ed Smallwood, Don Buse, Larry Humes, Jerry Newsom, Butch Wade and Billy Shepherd.
The Indiana State Sycamores were the class of ICC baseball, winning titles in 1957, 1958, 1964, 1966 under Paul Wolf. Wolf was named the ICC Coach of the Year in 1958, 1963, 1966 and 1967.
Final years
The 1970s saw many of the conference's athletic programs depart for other conferences, as Ball State and Indiana State became Division I programs in the late 1960s. Despite the addition of Indianapolis (formerly Indiana Central) and Wabash in 1970, the conference officially disbanned in 1978.
Despite the ICC disbanning for all other sports, the HCC continued to sponsor Division II football until 1989 when Butler, Valparaiso, Indianapolis, St. Joseph's, and Ashland all joined the Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference (now part of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference). Butler and Valparaiso moved to the Division I Pioneer Football League in 1993.
In 1997 the official records of the conference from 1950 to 1979 were moved from Terre Haute, Indiana onto the campus of DePauw University, becoming part of the Indiana Collegiate Conference/Special Collections Library. The archive also contains an extensive assortment of images and memorabilia from each member university.
Members
- Ball State (1950–1969)
- Butler (1950–1978)
- DePauw (1953–1977)
- Evansville (1950–1977)
- Indianapolis (1970–1977)
- Indiana State (1950–1968)
- SJC (1950–1978)
- Valparaiso (1950–1978)
- Wabash (1970–1977) [2]
Membership timeline
Subsequent conference affiliations
| Team | Left For | Current Home |
|---|---|---|
| Ball State | Mid-America Conference | Mid-American Conference |
| Butler | Midwestern Collegiate Conference | Horizon League |
| DePauw | Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference | North Coast Athletic Conference |
| Evansville | Midwestern Collegiate Conference | Missouri Valley Conference |
| Indianapolis | Great Lakes Valley Conference | |
| Indiana State | Midwestern Conference | Missouri Valley Conference |
| Valparaiso | Mid-Continent Conference | Horizon League |
| Saint Joseph's | Great Lakes Valley Conference | |
| Wabash | Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference | North Coast Athletic Conference |
Conference champions
Men's Basketball
Winners by school
| School (year joined) | Winners | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Evansville (1951) | 9 | 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966-co |
| Butler (1951) | 5 | 1952, 1953, 1959, 1961, 1962 |
| Indiana State (1951) | 4 | 1951, 1966-co, 1967, 1968-co |
| DePauw (1953) | 2 | 1957, 1968-co |
Football
Winners by school
| School (year joined) | Winners | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Butler (1951) | 14 | 1952, 1953, 1958–63, 1964-co, 1972-co, 1973–75, 1977-co |
| Evansville (1951) | 6 | 1955-co, 1964-co, 1969-co, 1970, 1972-co, 1976-co |
| Saint Joseph's (Indiana) (1951) | 6 | 1955-co, 1956–57, 1971, 1976-co,1977-co |
| Valparaiso (1951) | 6 | 1951, 1952, 1954, 1964-co, 1968, 1969 |
| Ball State (1953) | 4 | 1964-co, 1965–67 |
| Indiana State (1951) | 1 | 1964-co |
Baseball
Winners by school
| School (year joined) | Winners | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Valparaiso (1951) | 17 | 1952–1953, 1955–1956, 1959–1960, 1963, 1964-co, 1966-co, 1967–1968, 1969-co, 1970, 1971-co, 1972, 1974, 1977[3] |
| Indiana State (1951) | 4 | 1957, 1958, 1964, 1966 |
| Ball State (1953) | 3 | 1961, 1962, 1965 |
| Butler (1951) | 2 | 1969, 1974 |
| Evansville (1951) | x | |
| Saint Joseph's (Indiana) (1951) | x |
Notes
Indiana State won the All-Sports Trophy (best cumulative finish for all sports) 5 times, 4 consecutively; 1962–63 and 1964–65, 1965–66, 1966–67 and 1967-68.
The Sycamores then committed to transitioning their athletic program from NCAA Div II to NCAA Div I.[4]
See also
Further reading
- Porter, David (2005). Basketball: A Biographical Dictionary. Westport, CT: Greenwood & Publishing Group.
- Ashe, Arthur (1988). A Hard Road To Glory: A History Of The African American Athlete: Basketball. New York, NY: Amistad & Press Inc.
- Edmonds, Anthony (2003). Ball State Men's Basketball: 1918-2003. Charleston, SC: Arcadia & Publishing.
References
- ^ "INDIANA FORMS I.C.C.; All Hoosier Colleges but Wabash Enter New Athletic League". The New York Times. July 2, 1922. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F07E3DC1039E133A25751C0A9619C946395D6CF.
- ^ http://media.www.thedepauw.com/media/storage/paper912/news/2010/05/11/Sports/Timeline.Depauws.Conference.History-3921836.shtml#5
- ^ http://www.valpoathletics.com/baseball/default/
- ^ http://www.indstate.edu/archives/collections/yearbooks.htm