UALR Trojans
Encyclopedia
The UALR Trojans is the name by which the athletic teams of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock
are known. The Trojans are a non-football member of the Sun Belt Conference
. The University offers 6 men's and 9 women's varsity sports.
For the 2005-2006 basketball
season, the Trojans moved into the $25 million Jack Stephens Center
. This new facility almost doubled the seating capacity
of the old UALR gym, with 5,600 seats and 149000 square feet (13,842.6 m²) of space.
, the 14th seeded UALR beat the heavily favored and 3rd seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish
, coached by Digger Phelps
, now a college basketball analyst for ESPN
, 90 to 83. The Trojans lost in the second round to North Carolina State, 80 to 66 in two overtimes.
The 1986 NCAA Tournament success led to post-season appearances for the Trojans in each of the next four seasons. In 1987, UALR beat Baylor
, Stephen F. Austin
and California to make it to the National Invitation Tournament finals
in New York City
. The Trojans lost to both LaSalle
and Nebraska
to finish fourth. The next season, UALR lost to Louisiana Tech
in the first round of the NIT
.
The Trojans returned to the NCAA tournament in 1989
and 1990
, losing to Louisville
76-71 in 1989 and to eventual tournament champion UNLV
102-72 the next season.
With five tournament appearances out of six seasons in Little Rock, Newell departed after the 1990 season and the Trojans didn't return to post-season play until the 1996 NIT
under coach Wimp Sanderson, the Trojans' most recent tournament game.
The Trojans played in the 2011 NCAA Tournament
after winning the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship; it is the first appearance for the Trojans since 1990.
UALR plays its home games in the recently built Jack Stephens Center, an on-campus facility that seats 5,600 plus fans. Prior to this home, the Trojans played at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas. Previous to that, UALR's home games were played in Barton Coliseum on the Arkansas State Fairgrounds in Little Rock.
, defeating Santa Ana Junior College 25-19 and earned the junior college national championship. The LRJC team had played their way to the Junior Rose Bowl by winning the Little Rock Shrine Bowl for the right to meet the California junior college champion.
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
University of Arkansas at Little Rock , is a public research university located in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, and the second largest university by enrollment in the state of Arkansas....
are known. The Trojans are a non-football member of the Sun Belt Conference
Sun Belt Conference
The Sun Belt Conference is a college athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Its football teams participate in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , the higher of two levels of Division I football competition . The Sun Belt has member institutions...
. The University offers 6 men's and 9 women's varsity sports.
For the 2005-2006 basketball
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....
season, the Trojans moved into the $25 million Jack Stephens Center
Jack Stephens Center
Jack Stephens Center is a 5,600-seat multi-purpose arena in Little Rock, Arkansas and was built in 2005. It is home to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Trojans basketball team, and named in honor of billionaire philanthropist Jackson T. Stephens....
. This new facility almost doubled the seating capacity
Seating capacity
Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...
of the old UALR gym, with 5,600 seats and 149000 square feet (13,842.6 m²) of space.
Current staff
- Athletic directorAthletic directorAn athletic director is an administrator at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic programs...
- Chris Peterson - M BasketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
coach - Steve Shields - W BasketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
coach - Joe Foley - BaseballBaseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
coach - Scott Norwood - M GolfGolfGolf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
coach - Wyn Norwood - W GolfGolfGolf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
coach - Bridgett Norwood - W SoccerFootball (soccer)Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
coach - Freddy Delgado - SwimmingSwimming (sport)Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
and DivingDivingDiving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...
coach - Amy Burgess - W TennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
coach - Abby Wilson - M/W Cross CountryCross country runningCross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
/Track and FieldTrack and fieldTrack and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
coach - Milton Williams - W VolleyballVolleyballVolleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
coach - Van Compton
Basketball
In the years since becoming a four-year university, UALR has won slightly more games than they lost. However, during the six year coaching tenure of Mike Newell, the Trojans made a big splash on the national stage. Appearing in their first ever NCAA tournament game in 19861986 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1986 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1986, and ended with the championship game on March 31 in Dallas, Texas...
, the 14th seeded UALR beat the heavily favored and 3rd seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame's nickname is inherited from Irish immigrant soldiers who fought in the Civil War with the Union's Irish Brigade, , recollected among other places in the poetry of Joyce Kilmer who served with one of the Irish Brigade regiments during World War I...
, coached by Digger Phelps
Digger Phelps
Richard "Digger" Phelps is a former American college basketball coach, most notably of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team from 1971 to 1991. Since 1993, he has served as an analyst on ESPN.-Career:...
, now a college basketball analyst for ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
, 90 to 83. The Trojans lost in the second round to North Carolina State, 80 to 66 in two overtimes.
The 1986 NCAA Tournament success led to post-season appearances for the Trojans in each of the next four seasons. In 1987, UALR beat Baylor
Baylor Bears
Baylor Bears refers to the sports teams of Baylor University. Baylor's men's sports teams are nicknamed the Bears, and some women's teams are nicknamed the Lady Bears. Student athletes participate in the NCAA's Division I, and Baylor is the only private school in the Big 12 Conference...
, Stephen F. Austin
Stephen F. Austin
Stephen Fuller Austin was born in Virginia and raised in southeastern Missouri. He was known as the Father of Texas, led the second, but first legal and ultimately successful colonization of the region by bringing 300 families from the United States. The capital of Texas, Austin in Travis County,...
and California to make it to the National Invitation Tournament finals
1987 National Invitation Tournament
-Semifinals & Finals:*Third Place - Nebraska 76, Arkansas-Little Rock 67...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The Trojans lost to both LaSalle
LaSalle
The LaSalle was an automobile product of General Motors Corporation and sold as a companion marque of Cadillac from 1927 to 1940. The two were linked by similarly themed names, both being named for French explorers — Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac and René-Robert...
and Nebraska
Nebraska Cornhuskers
The Nebraska Cornhuskers is the name given to several sports teams of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference...
to finish fourth. The next season, UALR lost to Louisiana Tech
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball
The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball program represents intercollegiate men's basketball at Louisiana Tech University. The school competes in the Western Athletic Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and play home games at the Thomas Assembly Center in Ruston,...
in the first round of the NIT
1988 National Invitation Tournament
-Semifinals & Finals:*Third Place - Colorado State 58, Boston College 57...
.
The Trojans returned to the NCAA tournament in 1989
1989 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1989 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 16, 1989, and ended with the championship game on April 3 in Seattle, Washington...
and 1990
1990 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1990 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 15, 1990, and ended with the championship game on April 2 in Denver, Colorado...
, losing to Louisville
Louisville Cardinals
The Louisville Cardinals are the athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. A member of the Big East Conference since 2005, they are known nationally as traditional powers in men's basketball, women's volleyball, and dance team...
76-71 in 1989 and to eventual tournament champion UNLV
UNLV Rebels
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas' sports teams are called the Rebels. The Rebels participate in NCAA Division I and in the Mountain West Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The school's colors are Scarlet and Grey. The Rebels' main rival is the Wolf Pack of the University...
102-72 the next season.
With five tournament appearances out of six seasons in Little Rock, Newell departed after the 1990 season and the Trojans didn't return to post-season play until the 1996 NIT
1996 National Invitation Tournament
-Semifinals & Finals:*Third Place - Tulane 87, Alabama 76...
under coach Wimp Sanderson, the Trojans' most recent tournament game.
The Trojans played in the 2011 NCAA Tournament
2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The following sites were selected to host each round of the 2011 tournament:First Four*March 15 and 16**University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, OhioSecond and third rounds*March 17 and 19**Verizon Center, Washington, D.C....
after winning the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship; it is the first appearance for the Trojans since 1990.
UALR plays its home games in the recently built Jack Stephens Center, an on-campus facility that seats 5,600 plus fans. Prior to this home, the Trojans played at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas. Previous to that, UALR's home games were played in Barton Coliseum on the Arkansas State Fairgrounds in Little Rock.
Football
Though the football program has long since been disbanded, the Trojans were a national powerhouse when the school was known as Little Rock Junior College. Coach Jimmy Karam revived a program in 1947 that hadn't played football since 1933. The team won the 1947 Coffee Bowl 31-7 against Coffeyville Junior College and played in the 1948 Junior Sugar Bowl, losing 18-7 to South Georgia. In 1949, the team went undefeated and won the Junior Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CaliforniaPasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
, defeating Santa Ana Junior College 25-19 and earned the junior college national championship. The LRJC team had played their way to the Junior Rose Bowl by winning the Little Rock Shrine Bowl for the right to meet the California junior college champion.