Arkansas State Red Wolves | |
---|---|
University | Arkansas State University |
Conference | Sun Belt Conference |
NCAA | Division I |
Athletic director | Terry Mohajir |
Location | Jonesboro, Arkansas |
Varsity teams | 16 (7 Men's, 9 Women's) |
Football stadium | Centennial Bank Stadium |
Basketball arena | Convocation Center |
Mascot | Howl and Scarlet |
Nickname | Red Wolves |
Colors | Scarlet and Black |
Website | www |
The Arkansas State Red Wolves are the athletic teams of Arkansas State University. They are a member of the Sun Belt Conference in all sports, competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level.
Arkansas State sponsors teams in seven men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports:
Men's Intercollegiate Sports
Women's Intercollegiate Sports
The school's sports teams were nicknamed "Indians" in honor of the Osage Nation that inhabited the area until the 1800s. The name “Indians” officially became the school’s athletic nickname in 1931 following “Aggies” in 1911 (sometimes called “Farmers”), “Gorillas” in 1925, and then “Warriors” in 1930.
Arkansas State officially retired the Indian mascot on February 28, 2008, during the last home basketball game of the season. The school retained the Indians nickname for the remainder of the 2007–08 school year.
On January 31, 2008, Arkansas State University’s Mascot Selection Steering Committee decided to use the "Wolves" as a mascot. The Red Wolves was officially approved by the NCAA on March 7, 2008. The unveiling ceremony for the new Red Wolves logo was held March 13, 2008. The University planned on doing a slow phase out of the Indian imagery on the Arkansas State University campus. Dr. Dean Lee, the University's athletic director at the time, announced the Indian imagery would be phased out by importance, meaning the most visible sports would have the Red Wolves imagery first. Also, as part of the phaseout of the "Indians" nickname, the school immediately changed the name of its football stadium from Indian Stadium to ASU Stadium. In September 2012 the stadium's name was changed to Liberty Bank Stadium (now, as of 2015, known as Centennial Bank Stadium).
Arkansas State first fielded a football team in 1911. Since then the team has compiled six conference championships and one College Division (now NCAA Division II) football championship. The team was briefly discontinued during the First and Second World Wars. In 1953, the Indians moved from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), where they competed in the College Division. In 1975 they were promoted to NCAA Division I, and Arkansas State briefly played at the I-A level from 1978 to 1981. From 1982 to 1991, the Indians competed at the Division I-AA level before, again, being promoted to I-A, which is now known as Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).