| Lamar Cardinals | |
| University | Lamar University |
|---|---|
| Conference(s) | Southland Conference |
| NCAA | Division I - FCS |
| Athletics director | Larry Tidwell |
| Location | Beaumont, TX |
| Varsity teams | 14 |
| Football stadium | Provost Umphrey Stadium |
| Basketball arena | Montagne Center |
| Mascot | Big Red |
| Nickname | Cardinals |
| Fight song | Lamar Fight Song |
| Colors | Red and White
|
| Homepage | LamarCardinals.com |
The Lamar Cardinals (variously Cardinals or Cards) refers to the collegiate athletic teams of Lamar University. The inception of the nickname "Cardinals" dates back to the schools name change to Lamar in 1932. The teams compete in Division I of NCAA sports. The school has participated in practically every level of collegiate athletics from its inception as a junior college in 1923 to its realization as a university in 1971. Lamar sponsors fourteen teams (seven men's teams, seven women's teams) that compete in the NCAA's Southland Conference. The newest team being the reinstated football team with women's softball to return in the 2013 season.
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Athletics at Lamar University began when the school began as South Park Junior College in September 1923. Initially the school was using the name "Brahmas" as their mascot. When the school changed its name in 1932 to reflect it served a much wider area than just south park a contest was held to determine the schools name. When Lamar was finally chosen John Gray, head coach and athletic director at the time, dropped the old athletic nickname "Brahmas" and chose a new name, "Cardinals."[1]
When Lamar became a four year college in 1951 it entered the highly competitive Lone Star Conference, a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics association.[2]
The school has been in several conferences including:
Conference History:
The Cardinals baseball team has been coached by Coach Jim Gilligan for over 33 years.[3] With over 1000 career wins as a head coach he is one of the most winning coaches in NCAA history. Many LU players have gone on to play in the MLB, such as Kevin Millar and Brian Sanches
The Cardinals Baseball team leads the conference with 10 regular season titles.[4] In the 2010 season the Lamar Cardinals Baseball team seated 7th in the SLC at the beginning of the conference tournament went undefeated through the tournament and were crowned the 2010 SLC conference champions. The team received a NCAA tournament bid and played TCU and the Baylor Bears.
Lamar University baseball games have been played at 3500 seat Vincent-Beck Stadium since 1969.[5] The stadium was also host to semi pro teams such as the Beaumont Golden Gators
The Cardinals Basketball team plays in the 10,080 seat Montagne Center.[6]
The Lamar University basketball team is one of the school's most storied athletic programs.
The Cardinals under Coach Billy Tubbs (1976–1980) had a Cinderella story NCAA tournament, advancing to the Sweet 16. During Tubbs's reign at Lamar he recruited 2 players, Clarence Kea and B.B. Davis, who would become all-Americans for Lamar, while Clarence would go onto play professionally in the NBA.[7] The 1979 Cardinal Basketball team set records when it beat Portland State University 141-84; at the time, that game set an NCAA record for points in a single game.[8] During the game, Mike Olliver set the single game scoring record at Lamar with 50 points; that record stood until January 4, 2011, when reserve guard Mike James scored 52 points in 28 minutes in a 114-62 win over Division III Louisiana College. As of January 5, 2011, James's performance is the top single-game scoring performance of the NCAA basketball season.
Pat Foster (1980–1986) continued the team's success by leading the cardinals to 3 Southland Conference titles, 2 NCAA Tournament appearances and 4 NIT appearances.
Mike Deane (1999–2003) was hired in 1999. In his first year he returned the cardinals to the NCAA tournament for the first time since the Pat Foster era. The Cardinals played Duke in the first round of the 2000 NCAA Tournament.[9]
Billy Tubbs (2003–2006) returned to Lamar University in 2003 to again head the Cardinals basketball team. His return was highly anticipated and increased attendance. He turned the program around from 10th place in 2003 to tied for 4th in 2006. In 2006 Coach Tubbs stepped down as Head Basketball Coach to become the Athletic Director for Lamar. He was succeeded by assistant and Lamar Alumnus Steve Roccaforte.
In the Roccaforte era (2006–2011) of Lamar Basketball Lamar had erratic success. The Cardinals under Roccaforte had wins over major programs like the Texas Tech Red Raiders in 2008. Coach Roc took the Cardinals to the East Division Championship and a 19 win season in 2007-2008. Following the SLC championship the cardinals failed to reach the conference tournament for the next three seasons. Coach Roc's time at Lamar has been marked by some successes and very highly ranked recruiting classes.[10] Coach Roc was relieved of duties after the 2010-2011 season.[11]
Pat Knight was hired on April 5, 2011 as head coach. He previously served as head coach at Texas Tech University from 2008 - 2011.[12]
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Men's Cross Country Holds 12 conference titles as of 2010. The team has won five of those titles in the past five years from 2006-2010 under coach Jake Stewart.[13]
Football began in 1923 when the university was known as South Park Junior College. It was discontinued in 1928 because of a lack of common opponents but was revived again in 1932 by the renamed Lamar College. The program was suspended during World War II again in 1942 and was restored in 1946 and the first football scholarships were offered.
After the school moved up to the NAIA level in the Lone Star Conference, the Cardinals didn’t have a winning season until a superb 8-0-2 season in 1957 ignited a string of 11 consecutive winning campaigns.
Just as the Cardinals were becoming a perennial contender in the Lone Star loop, school officials moved the athletic program forward into the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) college division ranks in 1963 via the Southland Conference.
Football went independent when Lamar left the SLC in 1987 to join the basketball-flavored American South Conference. Dismal support finally led to larger-than-expected deficits and provided the bottom line fodder for five new appointees to the then-Lamar board of regents to pull the plug on football at their first official session in 1989 (5 to 4 vote).
The university restarted the program in 2010. In preparation for the return of play the University has done extensive work on the facilities including, Provost Umphrey Stadium, a new Athletic complex, and high class suites built into the existing Montagne Center. The university hired former NFL player Ray Woodard as the head coach to lead the charge in bringing the Cardinals back to the gridiron. Former Basketball Coach Billy Tubbs was hired as the Athletic Director in 2006 and has had a significant role in bringing back the Cardinals Football team. Lamar played their first game in over 20 years on September 4, 2010 at rival McNeese State University. The Cardinals lost a close game 27-30 in front of over 19,000 at MSU's Cowboy Stadium.[14] The 2010 Cardinals finished 5-6 with DI wins over Southeastern Louisiana and South Dakota.
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The men's golf team at Lamar has had tremendous success in its history. The golf team has been ranked in the top 10 nationally and has won over 20 conference titles.[15] The team has had many alumni continue on to the PGA Tour, like Chris Stroud and Kelly Gibson. The program between 1953 and 1973 won the conference title every year, an amazing 21 consecutive titles.[16] The team boasts seven national titles; five NAIA national titles from 1956–1960 and two NCAA College Division titles from 1967 and '68.[17] The Cardinals have won 23 team and 16 individual Southland Conference Championships surpassing all other Southland schools by 20 titles.[18] The most recent championships being four consecutive titles from 2006 to 2009. The Cardinals finished #3 in the nation in the 2007 NCAA Division I standings. The 2007 Lamar Golf team is one of only two Cardinal sports teams to ever finish in the top 10 in NCAA division I athletics.[19]
The track team trains and host home tournaments at Ty Terrell Track. The track program is coached by Trey Clark.[20] The track & field team until recently was built around distance and sprints running but has expanded the program to include jumps and multis with the hire of Jake Cohen.[21]
LU first sponsored softball in the early 1970s competing in the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW). Lamar finished second in the 1972 AIAW Texas state tournament.
In 1983 Lamar added softball as a division I sport and competed in the Southland conference. When Lamar left the southland conference in the 1987 season, the sport was dropped.
On April 22, 2011, Athletic Director Larry Tidwell announced plans to reinstate college softball as a NCAA Division I sport at Lamar University.[22] On August 1, 2011 former Morehead State head coach Holly Bruder was announced as the finalist to fill the head coaching position at Lamar after over 20 years without a program.[23]
In the 1991 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament Lamar under coach Al Barbre made a run as a tenth seed in the Austin regional. The 1991 Lady Cardinals defeated Texas, LSU and Arkansas before being defeated by Virginia in the Elite Eight, Virginia went on to lose in the National championship game by 3 points. Currently the women's basketball team is coached by Larry Tidwell. The team has had significant success in recent seasons (2007–2011). Coach Tidwell has Turned the team around from a struggling program to a perennial power in the Southland Conference. In 2010 the team won the regular season and conference tournament to advance to the 2010 NCAA Tournament. The Lady Cardinals will make their first ever appearance in the preseason WNIT in the fall of 2010. The team plays in the 10,080 seat Montagne Center. In the 2011 season, coach Tidwell's Lady Cardinals received their first top 100 RPI ranking (RPI #80) since the figures were made public in the 2005 season.[24] The 2010-2011 squad finished with a record of 25-8 and made an appearance in the 2011 post season WNIT.
The Lady Cardinals won three consecutive Southland Conference Titles from 2004-2006. This series of titles tied the record amount of consecutive conference titles in the Southland Conference.
Lady Cardinals Soccer is the newest female sport at Lamar. The program began its inaugural season in 2007 under coach Mathew Dillon.[25] Dewi Hardman took over at the end of the 2007 season and is the current coach. The first ever soccer complex was completed in 2009. In the 2010 season the Lady Cardinals went 5-11-3 and narrowly secured a berth to their first ever play off game.
The Lady Cardinals Volleyball team were the SLC champions in 2007, with a 15-1 regular season record. From 2007 to 2009 the team won 36 of its past 48 regular season conference games.[26] The lady Cardinals Volleyball team is coach by Justin Gilbert. After completion of the Sheila Umphrey Center in 2007, the Volleyball team moved back to the McDonald Gym which underwent renovations at the same time of the construction. The 2010 Lady Cardinals volleyball team went (13 - 16) went (9 - 9) in conference play and earned a spot in the conference tournament. The lady cardinals beat Texas State bobcats in the quarterfinals before losing to UTSA in the Semifinals.[27]
Lamar has many rivalries some extend back to its early days in the Southland Conference or its time in the Sun Belt Conference. Lamar's biggest current rival is the McNeese State Cowboys. Games between the two schools usually are among the highest attended into the Southland Conference. The rivalry features double header basketball games for men's and women's basketball. The weekend baseball series is usually played to allow both teams a home game, the designated home team plays Friday at the opposing school and then plays its Saturday and Sunday matches at home. In 2010 when Lamar revived its football team the fans of both teams packed the 17,000 seat stadium to the brim. The official attendance of 19,235 was the largest game at McNeese since 2002.[28]
Lamar's other current rivalries are fellow Texas State University System schools, Texas State University-San Marcos and Sam Houston State University.
During the 70's and 80's Lamar had long standing basketball rivalries with the University of Louisiana Lafayette, Louisiana Tech and Arkansas State.
Southland Conference
Sun Belt Conference
Lone Star Conference
American South Conference
NAIA National Championships
NCAA College Division National Championships
All-Americans
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PGA LPGA |
NBA
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NFL
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1956 Melbourne
1960 Rome
1980 Moscow
1984 Los Angeles
The Dauphin Athletic Complex is the main sports performance facility for varsity sports at Lamar.[29]
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