Indiana State Sycamores


The Indiana State Sycamores are the NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic teams of Indiana State University. Since the 1977–78 academic year, Indiana State has been a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. The Indiana State football team has competed in Division I FCS since the 1982 season, and has been a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference since it was spun off from the Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference when the latter league merged into the MVC in 1992. Past conference memberships include the Indiana College Athletic League, the Indiana Intercollegiate Conference, the Indiana Collegiate Conference and the Midwestern Conference. The women's teams were Gateway members from the league's 1982 founding until its absorption by the MVC. In 1986, a year after the Gateway took on football as its only men's sport, the Sycamores football team joined that conference.

History

"Sycamores" nickname and evolution of mascot

Early on in the school's history, the athletes were referred to as the "Fighting Teachers", until the students chose the name "Sycamores," due to the abundance of sycamore trees in Indiana and especially in the Wabash River Valley; though it is believed that the students voted on "Sycamores" on a lark, never thinking it would win. During the 1950s and 1960s, the sycamore tree itself was used as Indiana State's mascot. However, as a tree does not lend itself well to an athletic mascot, especially considering Indiana State's in-state rivalries with the Ball State Cardinals and Butler Bulldogs, the university created an Indian mascot named "Chief Quabachi," and his "Princess," in 1969. This change paid homage to the fact that ISU was the "State University" of a state named after Indians. The university dropped the "Chief Quabachi" mascot in 1989 in response to a variety of objections over use of the Indian caricature and did not have another mascot until 1995, when a blue-and-white gender neutral woodland creature named "Sycamore Sam" became Indiana State's mascot.

Sports sponsored

A member of the Missouri Valley Conference, Indiana State University sponsors six men's and nine women's teams in NCAA sanctioned sports. Indiana State's softball team has appeared in two Women's College World Series in 1974 and 1976.

National championships

National team championships (3)

As of August 1, 2023, Indiana State has won three National Championships; one NCAA team championship, one NAIA team championship and one USBC title.
The men's basketball team won the 1950 NAIA National Championship.
Kurt Thomas led the men's gymnastics team to the 1977 NCAA National Championship. In 1973 and 1979, the team finished third in the NCAA Championships. In 1971, Coach Margit "Grete" Treiber led the ISU women's gymnastics team to a national runner-up finish at the AIAW National Championships. In 1964, Coach Roger Counsil led the ISU men's freshman gymnastics team to a national runner-up finish at the NCAA Championships.
The women's bowling team won the 1984 United States Bowling Congress' National Intercollegiate Championship.
The men's basketball team was the NCAA Division I national runner-up in 1979; the 2024 NIT finalist and the NCAA College Division national runner-up in 1968.
The men's basketball team was the national runner-up in the 1946 and 1948 NAIA National Championship Tournaments. The 1950 title team placed eight players on the 1951 Pan-American Games gold medal-winning team. Head Coach John Longfellow also served as co-head coach of the Pan-American Games team.

NCAA National Individual Championships (30)

Indiana State athletes have won 30 NCAA Individual Championships.

NAIA Individual Championships (5)

  • John Caddell – 3
  • Mike Lane – 1
  • Larry Dalton – 1

    Other Individual Championships (5)

  • Sarah Brumgart – 1
  • Cheryl Pedlow Bridges-Flanagan – 2
  • Mike Hanna – 2

    Olympians (13)

Indiana State has produced 13 Olympians; 11 for the United States, 1 for Aruba & 1 for Barbados. Additionally, several ISU Coaches have US Olympic ties; Roger Counsil was the 1980 US Olympic Gymnastics coach, Erin Gilreath, ass't track & field coach competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics
Indiana State has produced 2 Sullivan Award winners:
  • Kurt Thomas 1979 winner; World Champion, NCAA Champion
  • Bruce Baumgartner 1995 winner; Olympic Champion, World Champion, Pan-American Champion, NCAA Champion

    All-Americans (171)

Indiana State has produced 174 All-Americans:
  • The Men's Gymnastics Team leads with 46 All-Americans.
  • The Football Team has 34 All-Americans
  • The Baseball Team has produced 26 All-Americans
  • The Women's Cross-Country & Track and Field Teams have produced 26 All-Americans
  • The Men's Cross-Country & Track and Field Teams have produced 21 All-Americans
  • The Men's Basketball Team has produced 14 All-Americans
  • The Wrestling Team produced 7 All-Americans

    Conference champions (98)

Indiana College Athletic League (1900–1922)

  • 3 titles in baseball

    Indiana Intercollegiate Conference (1923–1947)

  • 6 titles in baseball
  • 5 titles in men's basketball

    Indiana Collegiate Conference (1950–1968)

30 titles in baseball, men's basketball, men's cross-country, men's golf, football, men's swimming, men's track & field and wrestling.
  • Paul Wolf—ICC Baseball Coach of the Year
  • Duane Klueh—ICC Basketball Coach of the Year
  • Mark Dean—ICC Football Coach of the Year
  • Bill Jones—ICC Football Coach of the Year
  • Jerry Huntsman—ICC Football Coach of the Year
  • Paul Selge—ICC Swimming Coach of the Year
  • Chester Sanders—ICC Wrestling Coach of the Year
  • Ted Parker—ICC Wrestler of the Year

    Gateway Conference (1982–1992)

4 titles in women's basketball, women's track & field and women's cross-country.
  • Andi Myers—Gateway Basketball Coach of the Year

    Missouri Valley Conference (1977–present)

  • 65 titles
  • *16 in men's track & field
  • *13 in women's track & field
  • *9 in men's cross-country
  • *10 in baseball
  • *5 in men's tennis
  • *4 in men's basketball
  • *3 in women's basketball
  • *2 in women's cross-country
  • *2 in softball
  • *1 in women's tennis
Of particular note, the Runnin' Sycamores have won 32 titles in the past 26 seasons.

Championship host

Indiana State University has hosted thirteen NCAA Division I cross country championships at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course. ISU will also host the 2018 NCAA Great Lakes Regionals in cross country and the 2019 NCAA Division I Nationals.
Indiana State University hosted the 10th NCAA Wrestling Championships in 1937, at a time when the school had yet to establish a wrestling program. In 1965, the university hosted the National NAIA Wrestling tournament.
The university also hosted the 1972 US Olympic Trials and the 1975 NCAA Gymnastics National Championships.

Rivalry

Indiana State University's rivalries include the Illinois State Redbirds, cross-state Ball State Cardinals with whom the Sycamores football team competed for the Victory Bell, the Evansville Purple Aces and the nearby Eastern Illinois Panthers.

Athletic bands

Indiana State's marching band is called the Marching Sycamores. The marching band performs at home football games and is the feature band at the Brickyard 400. There are two alternating bands that play at men's and women's basketball games, known as the Blue and White Basketball Bands.