The Grambling State Tigers and Lady Tigers represent Grambling State University in NCAA intercollegiate athletics. Grambling's sports teams participate in Division I (I-FCS for football) as a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).
| Grambling State Tigers | |
|---|---|
 | |
| University | Grambling State University |
| Conference | SWAC |
| NCAA | Division I (FCS) |
| Athletic director | David Ponton |
| Location | Grambling, Louisiana |
| Football stadium | Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium |
| Basketball arena | Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center |
| Baseball stadium | Wilbert Ellis Field at Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones Park |
| Softball stadium | GSU Softball Complex |
| Soccer stadium | GSU Soccer Complex |
| Other venues | Memorial Gymnasium |
| Mascot | Tiger |
| Nickname | Tigers |
| Colors | Black, gold, and red[1] |
| Website | www |
Sports sponsored
edit| Men's sports | Women's sports |
|---|---|
| Baseball | Basketball |
| Basketball | Bowling |
| Cross country | Cross country |
| Football | Soccer |
| Track and field† | Softball |
| Tennis | |
| Track and field† | |
| Volleyball | |
| † – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor. | |
Baseball
editNotable players
edit- Tommie Agee
- Matt Alexander
- Courtney Duncan
- Ralph Garr
- Johnny Jeter
- Lenny Webster
- Gerald Williams
- Gary Eave
Men's basketball
editThe Grambling State Tigers won the NAIA National championship tournament in 1961, beating Georgetown College (Ky.). The victory made Grambling State the first and only college basketball program in the state to win a national basketball championship. In the following years, the Tigers made it to the NAIA Final Four, and placed 3rd in 1963, and 1966, defeating Fort Hays State (Kan.) and Norfolk State (Va.) respectively. The Tigers appeared in the NAIA National Tournament eight times from 1959 to 1971, with a total NAIA National Tournament record of 19–7. Former NBA star Charles Hardnett played for the National Championship Tiger team. The team reached their first NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in 2024 after winning the SWAC Tournament Championship. [2] In 2013, the Tigers went 0–28, with only one single-digit loss (an 8-point loss to Alabama A&M in the SWAC tournament). Grambling State's most popular and highest attended regular season basketball rivalries are against the Southern Jaguars and Prairie View A&M Panthers.
Women's basketball
editFootball
edit
Grambling State plays its arch rival Southern University in the annual Bayou Classic, which is hosted at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana over Thanksgiving weekend and broadcast nationally on NBCSN.
GSU also plays in the annual State Fair Classic against the Prairie View A&M Panthers at the Cotton Bowl, in Fair Park, in Dallas, Texas.
Former football coach Eddie Robinson previously held the NCAA record for most career wins as a head coach at an NCAA division I school.[3]
During Robinson's 55-year coaching career, the university gained a national reputation because of the large number of athletes who joined the professional ranks in football.
After Robinson's retirement in 1997, former GSU standout and NFL Super Bowl XXII MVP Doug Williams took over the reins of the university's football program.
Grambling has won fourteen black college national championships, tied for second most in the country (Robinson's teams won nine of those championships).
The 1981 TV movie Grambling's White Tiger set in 1967, tells the true story of Jim Gregory, the first white Quarterback at Grambling.
In October 2013, citing health hazards within the Grambling State athletic facilities and team mismanagement in a letter to the administration, the Grambling State football team refused to play their October 19 game against Jackson St., forfeiting the match up, resulting in a loss.[4] The NCAA would later go on to announce the ruling on the game was officially declared a no contest.[5] The Tigers would return for their very next game a week later against Texas Southern.[6]
In 2017, Grambling State completed a few million dollars worth of renovations to the field and scoreboard.[7]
Notable players
editPro Football Hall of Fame members
Traditions
editGrambling State's colors are black and gold, with red as a tertiary color symbolizing the blood of people of African descent. The school's mascot is the Tiger. Grambling State's male athletes are traditionally referred to as "G-Men".[8]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Grambling State University Logos and Marks (PDF). July 14, 2021. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
- ^ "Ticket Punched: Grambling State Wins SWAC Men's Basketball Tournament for First Time in School History". Southwestern Athletic Conference. November 12, 2023. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
- ^ Penn State penalties: $60 million fine, 4-year bowl ban The Chicago Tribune. July 23, 2012
- ^ "The inside story of what caused Grambling football players to revolt". Archived from the original on October 19, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
- ^ Sean Isabella, USA TODAY Sports (October 30, 2013). "NCAA decides Grambling-Jackson State game is a 'no contest'". Usatoday.com. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
- ^ "Grambling State returns to field with loss". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved November 1, 2013.
- ^ GSU announces major stadium improvementsGrambling State News Archived July 26, 2023, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Grambling State Athletics - G-Men Season Comes to an End in Heartbreaking Loss". Gsutigers.com. March 14, 2010. Retrieved August 11, 2015.