High Point Panthers

The High Point Panthers are the 17 varsity athletic teams that represent High Point University in High Point, North Carolina, United States. All of HPU's varsity teams compete at the NCAA Division I level. All sports except men's lacrosse and women's rowing compete in the Big South Conference. The men's lacrosse team joined the Atlantic 10 Conference after the 2022 season. Women's rowing was added in 2024–25, initially competing as an independent until joining the new rowing league of the Mid-American Conference in 2025–26. The Panthers joined Division I in 1999, after having been NCAA Division II and being members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics prior to 1992. HPU was a founding member of the North State Conference, which is now the NCAA Division II Conference Carolinas.
Dan Hauser became HPU's athletic director in May 2014. He replaced Craig Keilitz, who held the position from 2008 to 2014. Keilitz replaced Woody Gibson, who had been AD since 1999. HPU's other previous athletic directors include Jerry Steele, who was also basketball coach from 1972 to 2003, and Virgil Yow, who was also a coach.
HPU's main athletic facilities are the Millis Center, Vert Stadium and Williard Stadium. In September 2018, ground broke on the Qubein Center. The facility will host men's and women's basketball and seat 4,500 spectators. It was originally scheduled to open for the 2020–21 school year, but construction delays brought on by COVID-19 have delayed the opening to 2021–22.

Teams

A member of the Big South Conference, High Point sponsors teams in eight men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports:

Men's sports	Women's sports
Baseball	Basketball
Basketball	Cross country
Cross country	Golf
Golf	Lacrosse
Lacrosse	Rowing
Soccer	Soccer
Track and field	Track and field
	Volleyball

Men's basketball

The team began varsity play in 1927–28 and was a charter member of the North State Conference from 1930–31 through 1996–97, when the school began its transition to NCAA Division I. High Point won 15 regular-season championships and 13 tournament championships while in the North State Conference and participated in the NAIA national tournament in 1939, 1942, 1946, 1951, 1964, 1965, 1969 and 1979. High Point participated in the NCAA Division II Tournament in 1997.
HPU moved up to NCAA Division I in 1999–2000 and joined the Big South Conference. The Panthers made it to the Big South final in their first year of eligibility in 2002 and also made it to the championship game in 2004. HPU has had two Big South Players of the Year: Danny Gathings and Arizona Reid. Reid is the only player in conference history with over 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds and was A.P. All-American honorable mention twice. In 2011–12, guard Nick Barbour broke Reid's Division I scoring record, finishing his career with 2,121 points. Barbour became the second player in team history to lead HPU in scoring four times in a row. The Panthers made their first Division I NCAA Tournament in 2025.
The team's prominent alumni include former head coach Tubby Smith, former NBA head coach Gene Littles and former NBA referee Joe Forte. Littles is the program's all-time leading scorer, with 2,398 points from 1965 to 1969. George Nostrand played at High Point from 1941 to 1944 and went on to play in the first NBA game ever in 1946. Along with Cherry, High Point's prominent head coaches have been Virgil Yow, J.D. Barnett, Jerry Steele and Bart Lundy.

Women's basketball

High Point University started women's basketball in 1967–68 and the team is now coached by DeUnna Hendrix, who was hired in May 2012. Hendrix served as assistant coach for one season under Jennifer Hoover. In Hoover's only season in 2011–12, the team achieved a record of 20–13. Her performance earned her the Maggie Dixon Rookie of the Year award, presented to a coach with remarkable success in their rookie year as a head coach. Hoover was then hired by her alma mater, Wake Forest, to be head coach in May 2012.
High Point won the 1978 AIAW Division II national championship with a 92–88 overtime win over South Carolina State. The following year, High Point set a program record with 33 wins but was unable to defend its national title, falling to Tougaloo in the AIAW Region II Tournament.
High Point completed its transition to Division I in 1999–2000 and joined the Big South Conference. High Point has finished above.500 in the Big South in every season since 2000–01. HPU won the Big South regular season championship in 2006–07, the team's only title since joining the league. High Point finished second in the Big South regular season and made it to the Big South tournament final in 2011–12, just the second time the team finished in the top two in the standings and made it to the championship in the same season. High Point earned its second WNIT berth in 2012.
High Point's all-time leading scorer is current Spring Hill College head coach Karen McConico who scored 2,612 points from 1994 to 1998. The team's most prominent alumnus is former Duke head coach and current television color commentator Debbie Leonard who played for High Point from 1970 to 1974.
The first female player played on a college men's basketball team in 1944 when then High Point men's coach Virgil Yow recruited Nancy Isenhour to be on the team. She started three games.

Cross country and track & field

Head coach Mike Esposito leads HPU's men's and women's cross country, indoor and outdoor track & field teams. Esposito was coach at Mount Tabor High School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for 19 years and has been High Point's head coach since 2005. HPU's longest-tenured coach was Bob Davidson, who led HPU for 39 seasons into the early 2000s. The Panthers' strongest events are cross country and long-distance events in track & field. HPU's men's cross country team won three-straight Big South Championships from 2002 to 2004 and has been runner-up at the Big South Championship from 2007 to 2011. The women's cross country team won its first Big South Championship in 2011 and Esposito was named conference Coach of the Year. The Panthers have had two NCAA Division I All-Americans in track & field; Jemissa Hess in the indoor mile in 2005 and Sydney Horn in the pole vault in 2021. Two alumni have competed in the Olympics: Taylor Milne represented Canada in the 1,500-meter in 2008 and Tamas Kovacs represented Hungary in the marathon in 2012. Other notable alumni include former Tennessee head coach Bill Webb and current ZAP Fitness runners Jesse Cherry and Cole Atkins. HPU's Vert Stadium is named in honor of Dick Vert, an HPU trustee who was a cross country and middle-distance runner and graduated from HPU in 1960.

Football

High Point University had football from the 1920s until 1950 and was a member of the North State Conference. HPU played at NC State in the 1930 season opener, which was the first night football game played in the state of North Carolina. The team played at Albion Millis Stadium, now the site of Vert Stadium. There is often speculation about High Point restarting a football program but no timeline has been announced.

Men's golf

Men's golf is one of High Point's longest-running sports behind men's basketball. The team moved up to NCAA Division I in 1999 and had its best Big South Championship finish, third, in 2006. HPU's highest individual finisher was Ryan Taylor, who placed second in 2007. The team's most prominent alumnus is Roger Watson, who played for HPU from 1963 to 1966, won national club championships in 1974 and 1975 and has since been inducted to several halls of fame, including the NAIA Hall of Fame and North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. High Point named Brady Gregor head coach in 2016, replacing Greg Flesher.

Women's golf

High Point University started Women's Golf in 2003–04 and the team achieved its highest Big South Championship finish – second – in 2019. HPU has had two individual Big South Women's Golf Champions, Ann Marie Dalton in 2008 and Samantha Vodry in 2019. Vodry also advanced to the NCAA Regionals via at-large bid as the first post-season qualifier in HPU history in 2021. Alexis Bennett was named Head Coach on July 22, 2016, and has led the team to 4 top-4 conference finishes and 5 tournament titles.

Men's lacrosse

High Point University announced the addition of men's lacrosse as part of the university's $2.1 billion growth plan in September 2010. HPU's first varsity men's lacrosse season will be 2013. HPU named Jon Torpey head coach in 2010 and he joined HPU on a full-time basis in June 2011. Torpey's college teammate at Ohio State, Pat Tracy, as well as former Maryland attacker Michael Phipps joined HPU as assistant coaches in 2011. High Point brought in 20 players for the 2011–12 season, who redshirted in preparation for the inaugural varsity season. The 2012–13 roster features 39 players, including three from North Carolina and three from Canada.

Women's lacrosse

High Point University announced the addition of women's lacrosse in 2009 and won the National Lacrosse Conference championship in its first season of 2011. The Panthers went 15–4 in their inaugural campaign, setting a record for wins by a first-year NCAA Division I program. The previous record was 13–4 by Navy in 2008. The team is coached by Lyndsey Boswell, who was named NLC Coach of the Year in 2011. She had been head coach at St. Andrews Presbyterian College and was an NCAA Division II All-American while playing at Pfeiffer. HPU attacker Grace Gaeng transferred from Maryland and was named NLC Player of the Year in 2011. The team repeated with a 15–4 record in 2012 and won the NLC regular season. High Point moved to the Big South Conference in 2013 and has won the conference tournament in 2013, 2014, and 2017. In the 2013 NCAA tournament, they lost 18–7 to Loyola and in 2014 they fell 18–4 to Notre Dame.