The American Eagles are the athletics teams that represent the
American University
The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...
in
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
(NCAA)
Division I competition. American is a member of the
Patriot League
The Patriot League is a collegiate athletic conference comprising private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United States. Outside the Ivy League, it is among the most selective gr ...
in all sports except wrestling, where it is a member of the
Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association The Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) is an NCAA Division I collegiate wrestling conference. It held its first championship tournament in 1905, making it the oldest wrestling conference in the NCAA; the charter members were Colum ...
. Many of the teams have gone on to win championships over the years, particularly their field hockey, volleyball, and wrestling teams. The team colors are red and blue.
Athletic directors
Early athletic directors
American University was founded in 1893, and the first building opened for classes in 1907. But it wasn't until the fall of 1925 that the university organized intercollegiate athletics. The university fielded both a men's and women's basketball team, and a football team.
George Springston
George Ballie Springston (November 11, 1898 – December 30, 1963) was an American college football and basketball player and coach. He served as the head football coach at American University in Washington, D.C. from 1925 to 1928. He was buried i ...
was appointed athletic director (AD) and head coach of the men's basketball team and football team, fielding his first teams in October 1925.
In February 1929, Springston resigned and
Walter Young was named his replacement the same day. On October 16, 1931, a new football stadium called "American University Field" was opened. Young resigned as AD on January 30, 1937. He had signaled his intention to resign as AD and head coach of the football and basketball teams in the fall of 1937, but a serious automobile accident in late January prompted him to resign suddenly.
On February 4, 1937, AU announced the hiring of
Gus Welch
Gus is a masculine name, often a diminutive for Angus, August, Augustine, or Augustus, and other names (e.g. Aengus, Argus, Fergus, Ghassan, Gustav, Gustave, Gustafson, Gustavo, Gussie).
It can also be used as the adaptation into English of ...
as its athletic director. Welch had been a football teammate of legendary player
Jim Thorpe
James Francis Thorpe ( Sac and Fox (Sauk): ''Wa-Tho-Huk'', translated as "Bright Path"; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was the first Native ...
at
Carlisle Indian Industrial School
The United States Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, generally known as Carlisle Indian Industrial School, was the flagship Indian boarding school in the United States from 1879 through 1918. It took over the historic Carlisle ...
in
Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Carlisle is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2020 United States census, ...
, where he was coached by the equally legendary
Glenn "Pop" Warner. He had played two years of professional football with the
Canton Bulldogs
The Canton Bulldogs were a professional American football team, based in Canton, Ohio. They played in the Ohio League from 1903 to 1906 and 1911 to 1919, and the American Professional Football Association (later renamed the National Football Leag ...
(from 1915 to 1917) prior to his service in World War I. After the war, he was head football coach at
Washington State University
Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...
from 1919 to 1922, head football coach at
Randolph Macon College from 1923 to 1929, head football coach at the
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...
from 1930 to 1933, and AD and head football coach at
Haskell Indian Nations University
Haskell Indian Nations University is a public tribal land-grant university in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Founded in 1884 as a residential boarding school for American Indian children, the school has developed into a university operated by t ...
from 1933 to 1936. Welch provide to be highly popular, even though AU had so few students he could barely field an 11-man football team. He told witty stories to the press, and pulled stunt after stunt to try to get his football team to win. He once tried to play a female student as a place kicker, but referees wouldn't allow it. At least once, he dressed cheerleaders and other students in football uniforms and had them sit on the bench to fool opposing teams into thinking he had a bigger team and more depth that reported. Frustrated with the lack of football recruits, Welch resigned suddenly as coach and AD on December 6, 1938.
The Cassell era
Welch's assistant,
Stafford H. Cassell, was named Welch's successor as AD on February 27, 1939. Cassell was an AU graduate who had played football, basketball, and baseball at the university in the early 1930s, and he was considered a star basketball player. He was named men's basketball coach in 1937.
Because of the outbreak of World War II, AU dropped football after the 1941 season. Subsequently, Cassell resigned in March 1942 to become athletic director and head football coach at
Morningside College
Morningside University is a private university affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Sioux City, Iowa. Founded in 1894 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, Morningside University has 21 buildings on a campus in Sioux City (ar ...
in
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
. He departed AU in June.
Don Cooper
Donald James Cooper (born January 15, 1956) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who spent parts of four seasons with the Minnesota Twins (1981–1982), Toronto Blue Jays (1983) and New York Yankees (1985). He was the pi ...
was named Cassell's replacement as athletic director on May 23, 1942. He had previously been the assistant men's basketball and football coach and the head track coach at
Beloit College
Beloit College is a private liberal arts college in Beloit, Wisconsin. Founded in 1846, when Wisconsin was still a territory, it is the state's oldest continuously operated college. It is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and has ...
in Wisconsin. But after less than a month on the job, Cooper stepped down to join the U.S. Army.
Gustaf Bernhard "Gus" Kalijarvi was named AU's athletic director on August 30, 1942. He had previously served as AD at
St. Johnsbury Academy
St. Johnsbury Academy (SJA) is an independent, private, coeducational, non-profit boarding and day school located in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, in the United States. The academy enrolls students in grades 9-12. It was founded by Thaddeus Fairbanks ...
in
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
.
Kalijvari left the university in 1944 to become the athletic director at
Cheshire Academy
Cheshire Academy is a selective, co-educational college preparatory school located in Cheshire, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1794 as the Episcopal Academy of Connecticut, it is currently the eleventh oldest boarding school in the United ...
in Connecticut. Due to the emergency caused by World War II and the limited sports schedule, he was not replaced until Stafford Cassell returned to AU as athletic director on January 3, 1946.
During the interim, and during the years of Cassell's second tenure, the AU men's basketball team won the
Mason–Dixon Conference
The Mason–Dixon Conference is a defunct NCAA Division II (former ''NCAA College Division'') athletics conference, formed in 1936 and disbanded in October 1978. A track championship bearing the conference's name continued for several years after ...
championship in 1945, 1946, 1950, and 1951.
Cassell resigned on March 10, 1952, to become an aide to new AU President
Hurst Robins Anderson Hurst Robins Anderson (September 16, 1904 – April 19, 1989) was president of American University from 1952 until 1968, during which he oversaw one of the institution's most important periods of growth and development. He was previously a faculty ...
.
The Frailey era
Cassell was replaced in March 1952 by
Hugo "Dutch" Schulze, a former captain of the AU men's basketball team and an outstanding football and baseball player at the school in the 1930s.
Schulze replaced Artie Boyd as men's head basketball coach, but he was only able to lead the team to a dismal 50–51 record. Schulze resigned on November 8, 1958.
David L. Carrasco was named AU's new AD upon Schulze's retirement on November 8.
He resigned in 1964.
In 1965, AU hired
Robert Frailey as its new athletic director. Frailey became the university's longest-serving AD, retiring in 1987 after 22 years on the job. Frailey head previously served for 16 years as coach of the men's swim team, and later coached the men's tennis, golf, and soccer teams. While AD, Frailey moved AU from
NCAA Division II
NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...
to
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...
, and hired some of the best basketball coaches in the nation:
Gary Williams
Gary Bruce Williams (born March 4, 1945) is an American university administrator and former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Maryland, the Ohio State University, Boston College, and American University. I ...
, later head coach at the
University of Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
;
Jim Lynam
James Francis Lynam (born September 15, 1941) is an American former college and professional basketball coach. He coached at the college level for Fairfield University from 1968 to 1970, American University from 1973 to 1978, and St. Joseph's Unive ...
, later head coach of the
Washington Bullets
The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...
professional basketball team;
Tom Davis, later head coach at the
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...
;
Tom Young, later head coach at
Rutgers University
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...
;
Ed Tapscott
Edmond A. "Ed" Tapscott III (born June 11, 1953) is an American sports executive. He is the former interim head coach of the NBA's Washington Wizards.
Coaching
Tapscott received his bachelor's degree from Tufts University and his Juris Doctor ...
, later an
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
executive for several teams; and
Fran Dunphy
Francis Joseph Dunphy (born October 5, 1948) is an American college basketball coach, who is the head coach of the La Salle Explorers of the Atlantic 10 Conference. He is the former men's basketball coach at Temple University and the University o ...
, later coach at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
and
Temple University
Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...
. In 1979, Frailey named and co-founded the
Colonial Athletic Association
The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universi ...
, the NCAA Division I league in which AU teams now began to participate. As his career neared its end, Fraily pushed hard for construction of a new sports arena at American University to replace the
Leonard Center (later named the Cassell Center), which the university had purchased in 1946. The new facility,
Bender Arena
Bender Arena is a 4,500-seat multi-purpose arena in Washington, D.C. The arena opened in 1988. It is home to the American University Eagles basketball, volleyball and wrestling teams.
The arena, named for Washington, D.C. philanthropists, Howard ...
opened in 1988. The swimming pool was named Frailey Pool in his honor.
O'Donnell-McElroy era
Joseph F. O'Donnell was appointed Frailey's successor on February 4, 1987. He was formerly an assistant athletic director at
Wichita State University
Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...
. O'Donnell served as AD until June 2, 1995. Ed Tapscott, AU's men's basketball coach since 1982, left the school in April 1990. In December 1991,
Pete Mehlert, men's head soccer coach who led the AU soccer team to a national championship, was fired by O'Donnell after clashing with him repeatedly. In November 1994,
Benjamin Ladner became the new president of American University. O'Donnell resigned on June 2, 1995, after Ladner threatened to fire him. Barbara Reimann, associate athletic director, was appointed acting athletic director.
On March 3, 1996, AU announced that Dr.
Lee McElroy would become the university's first African American athletic director, and the first athletic director to have a doctorate. Dr. McElroy had served a single year as AD at the
University of the District of Columbia
The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is a public historically black land-grant university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1851 and is the only public university in the city. UDC is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall ...
before moving to
Sacramento State University
California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is the eleventh oldest school in the 23-campus California ...
in 1989. During his tenure, McElroy hired
Art Perry to be men's head basketball coach. But Perry was fired in March 2000, and President Ladner led the search for Perry's successor (usurping McElroy's role). Ladner also forced McElroy to switch AU's affiliation from the Colonial Athletic Association to the
Patriot League
The Patriot League is a collegiate athletic conference comprising private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United States. Outside the Ivy League, it is among the most selective gr ...
. Allegedly frustrated by Ladner's interference, on July 5, 2000, McElroy announced he was resigning to become athletic director at the
State University of New York at Albany
The State University of New York at Albany, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a public research university with campuses in Albany, Rensselaer, and Guilderland, New York. Founded in 1844, it is one ...
.
Transitional ADs
From January 1, 2000, to March 31, 2007, American University had five athletic directors. Three of them lasted less than three years, leading to instability and a loss of institutional memory in the Athletic Department.
Dan Radakovich
Dan Radakovich (born June 9, 1958) is the athletic director of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.
Prior to his appointment at the University of Miami, Radakovich previously served as the athletic director at American University ...
was named McElroy's successor on September 11, 2000. Radakovich had previously served as the
chief financial officer
The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...
of the athletic department at the
University of South Carolina. Radakovich resigned after just eight months on the job to become senior associate athletic director at
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...
.
In November 2001, Ladner hired
Tom George
Thomas George (born December 2, 1956) is an American physician and politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. As a Republican member of the Michigan State Senate, he represented Kalamazoo County as well as an eastern portion of Van Buren Count ...
, a 20-year veteran of sports industry marketing with
Octagon
In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon.
A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, whi ...
, to be the university's new AD. George resigned effective July 31, 2003, to return to the sports marketing field. Although his tenure was short, George was able to win national television appearances for AU's women's volleyball and men's basketball teams, and major press coverage of the AU men's soccer and track and field teams.
Dr.
Joni Comstock became AU's first permanent female athletic director when she was hired on November 12, 2003. She had previously served as the athletic director at the
University of North Carolina at Asheville
The University of North Carolina Asheville (UNC Asheville, UNCA, or simply Asheville) is a public liberal arts university in Asheville, North Carolina, United States. UNC Asheville is the designated liberal arts institution in the University of N ...
since 2000 and had been an assistant athletic director and senior associate athletic director at
Purdue University
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
for 11 years before that. Comstock resigned on August 24, 2006, to take a position with the
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
.
Kerwin-era ADs
In November 2005, Dr.
Neil Kerwin became president of American University. Changes in the university's approach to athletics, made under his predecessor, Dr.
Benjamin Ladner, began to bear fruit in championship teams and national press attention. Stability in the athletic director position also contributed to an enhanced athletic program at the university.
After a nearly seven-month search, President Kerwin hired
Keith Gill
Keith Patrick Gill (born 1986) is an American financial analyst and investor known for his posts on the subreddit r/wallstreetbets. His analyses of GameStop stock, and details of his resulting investment gains—posted on Reddit under the username ...
as AU's new athletic director on March 21, 2007. Gill had previously been assistant athletic director at
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...
for two years, Director of Membership Services at the NCAA for five years, and senior associate athletic director at the
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...
for four years. AU's athletic teams won 25 team championships and 16 individual championships during his tenure. The men's basketball team won the Patriot League title back-to-back in the 2007-2008 and 2008–2009 seasons. The men's cross country, women's field hockey, and women's volleyball teams also won Patriot League championships. Gill resigned in December 2012 to become AD at the
University of Richmond
The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School ...
.
On February 28, 2013, President Kerwin announced that AU had hired Dr.
William "Billy" Walker to be the new athletic director. He joined the AU staff on April 3, 2013. A graduate of the
United States Air Force Academy
The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Uni ...
(USAFA), Walker was deputy director of athletics and professor and head of the Physical Education Department at the Air Force Academy. Dr. Walker retired from the Air Force in July 2013 at the rank of
brigadier general
Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...
, and awarded the
Legion of Merit
The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...
.
During his first year as AD, the women's field hockey, women's volleyball, and men's basketball teams won Patriot League championships. The women's volleyball repeated as Patriot League champions in 2013–2014, and were joined by the women's basketball team.
Teams
Conference history
American University's intercollegiate athletic program did not begin until 1925, and for the first 11 years of the program's existence AU was not a member of a formally organized athletic conference. AU became a founding member in 1936 of the
Mason–Dixon Conference
The Mason–Dixon Conference is a defunct NCAA Division II (former ''NCAA College Division'') athletics conference, formed in 1936 and disbanded in October 1978. A track championship bearing the conference's name continued for several years after ...
, in which it participated until 1966.
In 1966, AU moved from
NCAA Division II
NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...
to
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...
,
and joined the
Middle Atlantic Conference
The Middle Atlantic Conferences (MAC) is an umbrella organization of three athletic conferences that competes in the NCAA's Division III. The 18 member colleges are in the Mid-Atlantic United States.
The organization is divided into two main con ...
(MAC) effective September 1, 1966.
In February 1974, AU became a founding member of the
East Coast Conference
The East Coast Conference (ECC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the northeastern United States in the states of C ...
. The conference formed after several years of discussion by AU and 11 other schools which played in the University Division of the MAC.
![Bender Arena Court 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Bender_Arena_Court_2.jpg)
In 1984, the
Eastern College Athletic Conference
The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is a college athletic conference comprising schools that compete in 15 sports (13 men's and 13 women's). It has 220 member institutions in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, ranging in location fro ...
(ECAC) South voted to begin hosting championships in sports other than basketball. AU agreed to join the ECAC-South in March 1984. The ECAC-South changed its name to the
Colonial Athletic Association
The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universi ...
in June 1985.
By 2000, the CAA was down to just eight member schools. American University officials worried about the level of competition in the league, and the level of concern rose dramatically when the NCAA announced it was considering no longer extending automatic bids to the
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...
for leagues with fewer than eight members. Athletic Director Dr. Lee McElroy and President Benjamin Ladner began talks with the
Patriot League
The Patriot League is a collegiate athletic conference comprising private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United States. Outside the Ivy League, it is among the most selective gr ...
, discussions which became more serious after the
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...
said it would join the Patriot League if AU did. The Patriot League formally invited AU to join the conference in mid-March 2000. But according to an anonymous source, nearly all of the coaches at AU resisted the conference switch. The CAA allowed AU to offer athletic scholarships in all sports, while the Patriot League only permitted this in basketball. They were also concerned that the level of play in the Patriot League was of much lower quality than in the CAA, and that attendance at AU sporting events would drop significantly. (More local colleges played in the CAA than in the Patriot League, which critics felt meant higher attendance.) In response, the Patriot League allowed AU to continue to offer athletic scholarships in all sports. About 50 student-athletes at AU led a public protest against the move on March 28. Many of AU's top athletic stars vowed to transfer to another school if AU changes conferences.
On April 24, 2000, American University announced it would join the Patriot League beginning with the 2001–2002 season. AU President Ladner decided to make the switch after judging the commitment to academics of the other Patriot League schools, most of which were private schools like AU. (In the CAA, only one other school was private.) Another factor was the make-up of AU's student body, 30 percent of which came from the geographic area covered by the Patriot League. (Only five percent of AU's student body came from geographic areas covered by the CAA.) This would enhance AU's non-athletic fundraising and recruitment, Ladner felt. AU officials also felt the Patriot League was more stable than the CAA, which had seen high turnover in membership over the past few years.
The Eagles continue to play in the Patriot League, with the exception of the AU wrestling team. Although AU's wrestling program had a long history, by 2001 the program was in deep trouble. The team had a long losing streak in NCAA competition, and President Ladner considered closing the program. Instead, Ladner agreed to infuse the program with a significant amount of new funding and make AU into a national wrestling powerhouse. Since the Patriot League did not offer wrestling as a sport, AU's wrestling team affiliated with the
Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association The Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) is an NCAA Division I collegiate wrestling conference. It held its first championship tournament in 1905, making it the oldest wrestling conference in the NCAA; the charter members were Colum ...
, the nation's oldest wrestling conference, beginning with the 2002–2003 season. The wrestling program was helped after AU closed its men's and women's tennis and golf programs at the end of the 2004–2005 academic year,
and in 2007
redshirt
Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi
* Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...
junior Josh Glenn won the 197-pound title at the NCAA Division I wrestling championships. Glenn became AU's first national champion in any sport since 1966, and the school's first since it moved to NCAA Division I. Glenn also became AU's first two-time All-American.
Sports facilities
American University
The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...
has several sports facilities, including
Bender Arena
Bender Arena is a 4,500-seat multi-purpose arena in Washington, D.C. The arena opened in 1988. It is home to the American University Eagles basketball, volleyball and wrestling teams.
The arena, named for Washington, D.C. philanthropists, Howard ...
, which houses the William I Jacobs Fitness Center; 25-yard, eight-lane pool; the Reeves Aquatic Center, a six-store mini-mall, the campus bookstore, and a 470-car, seven-level parking structure. Bender Arena is also the home of AU's basketball team and AU's nationally ranked wrestling team.
Reeves Field
Reeves Field, also known as Reeves Stadium is a football stadium located on the campus of Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, United States. It was named in honor of local banker John T. Reeves, whose heirs donated land for the com ...
home to AU's soccer team, is one of the premier soccer fields in
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
. Reeves Field earned the 2002 College Soccer Field of the Year by the Sports Turf Managers Association, hosted its fifth NCAA Tournament game, and served as the training site for the Uruguayan National Soccer team. FC Barcelona and Blackburn used Reeves Field as a training facility. In the summer of 2000, AU served as the practice site for
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
, one of
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
's premier professional soccer clubs. Major League Soccer's D.C. United, Miami Fusion and San Jose Earthquakes have also practiced at AU. National teams from the United States,
Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
and
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
trained at Reeves in 1996 in preparation for
Summer Olympic
The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...
games held at
RFK Stadium
Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, commonly known as RFK Stadium and originally known as District of Columbia Stadium, is a defunct multi-purpose stadium in Washington, D.C. It is located about due east of the U.S. Capitol building, near the w ...
.
Reeves Field also features
Greenberg Track. It is a six-lane track used to accommodate the track and field programs at AU. During his term as vice-president,
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
regularly traveled in the morning from his home at the
U.S. Naval Observatory
United States Naval Observatory (USNO) is a scientific and military facility that produces geopositioning, navigation and timekeeping data for the United States Navy and the United States Department of Defense. Established in 1830 as the Depo ...
, located about two miles from American University, to run the track at Reeves Field.
AU's field hockey and women's lacrosse teams play on the field at the
William I. Jacobs Recreational Complex
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...
, which also features a softball diamond and two outdoor sand volleyball courts. AU's field hockey team earned the right to host the 2005 Patriot League Tournament, where American defeated
Lehigh University
Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epis ...
7–0 in the semifinals before capturing the league crown for the third straight year by downing
Holy Cross 4–2 in the Championship Game.
American University features seven outdoor tennis courts for the use of the intercollegiate tennis teams as well as the university community. Two outdoor basketball courts complete the outdoor recreational facility located next to Reeves Field and behind
Bender Arena
Bender Arena is a 4,500-seat multi-purpose arena in Washington, D.C. The arena opened in 1988. It is home to the American University Eagles basketball, volleyball and wrestling teams.
The arena, named for Washington, D.C. philanthropists, Howard ...
. AU has hosted three of the last four tennis team championships since joining the Patriot League, with the men's team winning back-to-back titles on the AU hardcourts and setting Patriot League Championship attendance records each year. The women's team last captured the Patriot League title in 2002.
Bender Arena is also the home to the AU
Volleyball
Volleyball 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. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
team which is coached by
Barry Goldberg
Barry Joseph Goldberg (born December 25, 1942) is an American blues and rock keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. Goldberg has co-produced albums by Percy Sledge, Charlie Musselwhite, James Cotton, and the Textones, plus Bob Dylan's ve ...
.
Hall of fame
In 1969, American University established an
athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...
Hall of Fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
and named it the
Stafford H. Cassell Hall of Fame, in honor of the school's late football coach, athletic director, and vice president.
[Stafford H. "Pop" Cassell Hall of Fame]
American University athletics official website. Retrieved 2017-02-01.
Notable athletes
*
Kermit Washington
Kermit Alan Washington (born September 17, 1951) is an American former professional basketball player. Washington is best remembered for punching opposing player Rudy Tomjanovich during an on-court fight in 1977.
Washington was not a highly-cove ...
, men's basketball (also an All-American)
*
Brian Gilgeous
R. Brian Gilgeous (born July 7, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player for Angers BC 49 in France's Ligue Nationale de Basketball. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Gilgeous is best known for his college career at American Uni ...
, men's basketball
*
Andre Ingram
Andre Ingram (born November 19, 1985) is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for American Eagles men's basketball, American University, where he finished his four-year career as the school's fifth all-time lead ...
, men's basketball; played 6 games for the
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...
after several years in the
NBA G League
The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...
*
Howard Lassoff
Howard Alan Lassoff (October 15, 1955 – February 7, 2013) was an American-Israeli basketball player. He also played in Israel for 14 years.
Biography
Initially interested in tennis, Lassoff grew to 6 feet 10 inches tall. He became interes ...
(1955–2013),
American-Israeli
, native_name_lang =
, image =
, caption =
, population = 110,000–150,000
, popplace = New York metropolitan area, Los Angeles metropolitan area, Miami metropolitan area, and other large metropolitan are ...
basketball player
See also
*
American Eagles wrestling
The American Eagles men's wrestling team represents American University in Washington, D.C. in NCAA Division I competition. The school's team competes in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) (the Patriot League, the Eagles' ...
References
External links
*
{{WashingtonDCSports