Little Rock Trojans

Little Rock Trojans
University University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Conference Sun Belt Conference
NCAA Division I
Athletic director Chasse Conque
Location Little Rock, Arkansas
Varsity teams 14 (6 men, 8 women)
Arena Jack Stephens Center
Baseball stadium Gary Hogan Field
Soccer stadium Coleman Sports & Recreation Complex
Other arenas Donaghey Student Center Aquatic Center
Nickname Trojans
Colors Maroon, White, and Silver[1]
              
Website www.lrtrojans.com
Little Rock is a member of the Sun Belt Conference

The Little Rock Trojans are the athletic teams representing the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The Trojans are a non-football member of the Sun Belt Conference. The University offers 6 men's and 8 women's varsity sports. Little Rock has Sun Belt rivalries with all the West Division schools (Arkansas State, Louisiana–Monroe, Louisiana–Lafayette, Texas State, and UT Arlington). Little Rock's primary Sun Belt rival is Arkansas State.

For the 2005–06 basketball season, the Trojans moved into the $25 million Jack Stephens Center. This new facility almost doubled the seating capacity of the old Little Rock gym, with 5,600 seats and 149,000 square feet (13,800 m2) of space.

On July 1, 2015, the Trojans officially announced they would no longer be branded as "Arkansas–Little Rock" or "UALR," but will be the Little Rock Trojans effective immediately.[2][3]

Teams

A member of the Sun Belt Conference, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock sponsors teams in 6 men's and 8 women's NCAA sanctioned sports:[4]

Notes
  1. 1 2 The NCAA considers indoor and outdoor track & field to be two separate sports, with separate national championship meets in both.
  2. ↑ The NCAA considers swimming and diving to be a single sport.
  3. ↑ Competes in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Current staff

Basketball

In the years since becoming a four-year university, Little Rock has won slightly more games than they've lost. However, during the six-year coaching tenure of Mike Newell, the Trojans made a big splash on the national stage. Appearing in their first ever NCAA tournament game in 1986, the 14th seeded Little Rock beat the heavily favored and 3rd seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish, coached by Digger Phelps, now a college basketball analyst for ESPN, 90 to 83. The Trojans lost in the second round to North Carolina State, 80 to 66 in two overtimes.[5]

The 1986 NCAA Tournament success led to post-season appearances for the Trojans in each of the next four seasons. In 1987, Little Rock beat Baylor, Stephen F. Austin and California to make it to the National Invitation Tournament finals in New York City. The Trojans lost to both LaSalle and Nebraska to finish fourth. The next season, Little Rock lost to Louisiana Tech in the first round of the NIT.

The Trojans returned to the NCAA tournament in 1989 and 1990, losing to Louisville 76–71 in 1989 and to eventual tournament champion UNLV 102–72 the next season.

With five tournament appearances out of six seasons in Little Rock, Newell departed after the 1990 season and the Trojans didn't return to post-season play until the 1996 NIT under coach Wimp Sanderson, the Trojans' most recent tournament game.

The Trojans played in the 2011 NCAA Tournament after winning the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship; it is the first appearance for the Trojans since 1990.

The women's team has also had its fair share of success since beginning play in 1969 and joining Division I in 1999. They have won the conference tournament in 2011, 2012, 2015 while competing in the NCAA tournament four times in the past seven years (2010, 2011, 2012, and 2015), while going to the Second Round in the first and latter appearances.

Little Rock plays its home games in the Jack Stephens Center, an on-campus facility that seats 5,600. Prior to this home, the Trojans played at Alltel Arena (now Verizon Arena) in North Little Rock, Arkansas. Previous to that, Little Rock's home games were played in Barton Coliseum on the Arkansas State Fairgrounds in Little Rock.

Football

Though the football program has long since been disbanded, the Trojans were a national powerhouse when the school was known as Little Rock Junior College. Coach Jimmy Karam revived a program in 1947 that hadn't played football since 1933.[6] The team won the 1947 Coffee Bowl 31–7 against Coffeyville Junior College and played in the 1948 Junior Sugar Bowl, losing 18–7 to South Georgia. In 1949, the team went undefeated and won the Junior Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, defeating Santa Ana Junior College 25–19 and earned the junior college national championship. The LRJC team had played their way to the Junior Rose Bowl by winning the Little Rock Shrine Bowl for the right to meet the California junior college champion.[7]

Baseball

References

  1. ↑ "Font/Colors – UALR". Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Conque Announces Logos, Little Rock Trojans Brand" (Press release). Arkansas–Little Rock Trojans. July 1, 2015. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
  3. ↑ ""Little Rock Trojans" New Team Name for UALR". KLRT-TV. July 1, 2015. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Little Rock Athletics". Arkansas–Little Rock Trojans. October 15, 2015.
  5. ↑ http://admin.xosn.com//pdf4/23561.pdf?SPSID=36828&SPID=2823&DB_OEM_ID=7400
  6. ↑ Archived December 12, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ "Little Rock Athletics - Junior College Rose Bowl Champions Receive Rings". Ualrtrojans.com. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
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