40 Years of Athletics

The Wright State University Athletic Department can be seen through two distinct phases of growth over the past 40 years. The first phase includes the birth and blossoming into the NCAA Division II elite while the second, and current, could be characterized by the move and quick success in NCAA Division I.

Since its first intercollegiate event when the men's soccer team defeated Wilberforce 4-2 in the fall of 1968, the Raiders have grown to the extent that the men's basketball team played Indiana University in the NCAA tournament before 35,000 fans on national television in 1993 and saw the Raiders beat eventual national champion Michigan State for the "Upset of the Millennium" December 30, 1999. The 2007 Raiders won the Horizon League regular season and tournament championships and advanced to the NCAA tournament for the second time.

The first 20 years in Division II saw numerous national post-season tournament berths, over 200 All-Americans and a men's basketball National Championship in 1983. Great success became the norm for the Raiders as a high majority of the programs posted a better than .600 winning percentage.

Since joining NCAA Division I in 1987, the Raiders success has continued as the squads climb and improve. The first to qualify for a division I bid came in 1988 when a golfer participated in the NCAA national tournament.

The move to Division I also saw a move in 1990 to the Mid-Continent Conference and then the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (now the Horizon League) in the mid 1990s. During that brief time, WSU athletes earned over 200 all-conference honors while numerous teams won conference championships and received NCAA Tournament bids. The coaching staffs also received several Coach of the Year honors.

Alumni in professional sports include Major League Baseball pitcher Brian Anderson, NBA Center Vitaly Potapenko, and PGA Tour golfer Frank Lickliter.

The student-athletes posted outstanding successes in the classroom as well as they regularly earn a grade point average over 3.0. Almost half of the student-athletes are honored each year at Academic Recognition Night. The women's soccer team has received the Team Academic Award from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America in four of the last five years for its team grade point average.

WSU sponsors 16 intercollegiate sports, including seven for men and nine for women: Both men and women field teams in soccer, tennis, basketball, swimming and diving, tennis and cross country. Women participate in volleyball and indoor and outdoor track and field while men have a golf team. Also new are Alumni Field, home of the men's and women's soccer teams, and Nischwitz Stadium, home of the WSU baseball squad. In addition, major improvements have been initiated at the softball field and tennis courts behind the Ervin J. Nutter Center, an 11,000-seat arena and home to the volleyball and men's and women's basketball teams. The Setzer Pavilion/Mills-Morgan Center, a basketball practice and training facility, opened in 2005.

Things are moving in the right direction for the Raiders as they prepare for more impressive leaps on and off the playing field.

For more information, please visit the WSU Athletics Web site.