The Pepperdine Waves are the athletics teams of

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and t ...

, located outside the city of

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malibu ...

. They compete at the Division I level of 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 ...

. The school is a member of the

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...

for the majority of its programs. Pepperdine University was recently ranked by the Sears Cup as having the most successful athletic program for non-

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

Division I schools (

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

was ranked the most successful Division I athletic program with football). Pepperdine University sponsors seventeen

Division I intercollegiate athletics teams. There are also several intercollegiate sports clubs such as men's soccer, men's and women's lacrosse, surf team, Ultimate Frisbee and men's rugby. Pepperdine's chief athletic rival is the

Loyola Marymount Lions The Loyola Marymount Lions are the athletic teams that represent Loyola Marymount University, a Jesuit institution in Los Angeles, California. The school competes in NCAA Division I and the West Coast Conference. Sports sponsored Baseball ...

, who are also in the WCC.

Nickname

Since the school's founding, the school's nickname has been the Waves. It was selected by president

Batsell Baxter Batsell Baxter (November 17, 1886 – March 4, 1956) was one of the most important leaders and educators in the Churches of Christ in the first half of the 20th century. Biography He received his early education from David Lipscomb and James A ...

, as the general consensus among faculty and students was that there were too many animal names in college athletics at the time. Though the school was located in

South Los Angeles South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of downtown. It is "defined on Los Angeles city maps as ...

at the time, the name has stuck, becoming more appropriate after the school's move to Malibu.

Sports sponsored

Baseball

Major league pitcher

Jon Moscot Jonathan Solomon Moscot (ג'ון מוסקוט; born August 15, 1991) is an American-Israeli former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who played for the Cincinnati Reds in 2015 and 2016, and who played internationally for Team Israel. Moscot ...

pitched for the baseball team in 2011 and 12. Other Waves pitchers who went on to success in the majors include Dan Haren, Randy Wolf, and Noah Lowry.

Basketball

Pepperdine sponsors both men's and women's

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 ...

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

teams.

Men's

The Pepperdine Waves men's basketball team began play in the 1938–1939 season, and has amassed 12 regular-season conference titles and three conference tournament championships. It qualified for the

NAIA men's basketball tournament Naia or NAIA may refer to: Sports * National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics * NAIA Softball Championship * NAIA Volleyball Championship * NAIA World Series * NAIA Wrestling Championship * NAIA lacrosse Other * Naia (skeleton), a Pale ...

seven times during the 1940s and 1950s. It has made 13 appearances in the NCAA tournament, six in the National Invitation Tournament, and three in the

College Basketball Invitational The College Basketball Invitational (CBI) is a men's college basketball tournament created in 2007 by The Gazelle Group. The inaugural tournament occurred after the conclusion of the 2007–08 men's college basketball regular season. The CBI s ...

(CBI), and it won the CBI championship in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

. Thirty-one former Waves have been drafted in the NBA draft, and 17 have played in the

National Basketball Association 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 S ...

Women's

The Pepperdine Waves women's basketball team began play in the 1975–76 season and has won four conference regular-season titles and three conference tournament championships. The Waves have made four appearances in the NCAA tournament and six in the Women's National Invitation Tournament.

Women's beach volleyball

The Pepperdine Waves women's beach volleyball team represents Pepperdine University in women's beach volleyball. Pepperdine launched its beach volleyball program in 2011.

Men's golf

The men's golf team has won 20 West Coast Conference championships (1987, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2015, 2018, 2019) They won the NCAA Division I Championship in 1997 and 2021. Pepperdine golfers who have won at the professional level are

Brent Geiberger Brent Andrew Geiberger (born May 22, 1968) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour. He is the son of golfer Al Geiberger. Early life Geiberger was born in Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbar ...

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

wins),

Jason Gore Jason William Gore (born May 17, 1974) is an American professional golfer. Amateur career Gore was born in Van Nuys, California. He grew up playing junior golf with Tiger Woods. Gore attended the University of Arizona, then transferred to Pepp ...

(1 PGA Tour win, 7

Korn Ferry Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. T ...

wins), Andrew Putnam (1 PGA Tour win, 2 Korn Ferry Tour wins),

Jeff Gove Jeff Gove (born May 28, 1971) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and the Web.com Tour. Gove was born in Seattle, Washington. He played college golf at Pepperdine University. He turned professional in 1994. Gove w ...

(3 Korn Ferry Tour wins), Michael Putnam (3 Web.com Tour wins), and Byron Smith (1 Korn Ferry Tour win, 4

Canadian Tour PGA Tour Canada, commonly referred to as the Canadian Tour, is a men's professional golf tour headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The United States based PGA Tour took over operation of the tour on November 1, 2012, at which time it was renamed PG ...

wins).

Women's soccer

The women's soccer team, launched in 1993, has earned an invitation to the

NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship The NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship, sometimes known as the Women's College Cup, is an American college soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and determines the Division I women's national ...

tournament 12 times, qualified with a national seeding five times, and advanced to the Round of 16 in 2002, 2005, 2014, and 2021. National Women's Soccer League teams have selected seven Pepperdine players in

NWSL Draft The NWSL Draft is an annual event which takes place in January of each year where the teams of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) select players who are in their senior season in college or have exhausted their collegiate eligibility. Prior ...

Roxanne Barker Roxanne Kimberly Barker (born 6 May 1991) is a South African soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Dutch club SC Heerenveen and the South Africa women's national team. Early life Pepperdine University Barker trained at the university ...

(

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, 32nd overall),

Michelle Pao Pao Hsin-hsuan (; born 1 September 1992), known as Michelle Pao, is a Taiwanese footballer who plays as a midfielder for Taiwan Mulan Football League club Taichung Blue Whale and the Chinese Taipei women's national team. Pao played collegiate ...

( 2014, 24th overall), Lynn Williams (

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, 6th overall),

Brianna Visalli Brianna Elizabeth Visalli (born April 17, 1995) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Women's Super League club Brighton & Hove Albion. She has represented the United States at under-23 level. She also holds B ...

( 2018, 19th overall),

Hailey Harbison Hailey Hinkley (; born October 3, 1996) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender. Early life Hinkley was born in San Diego, California and raised in the Rancho Peñasquitos Rancho or Ranchos may refer to: Settlements ...

( 2019, 9th overall),

Michelle Maemone Michelle Hope Maemone (born March 18, 1997) is a former American soccer player who played as a defender for Kansas City in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Early years Maemone was born to Joe and Anita Maemone and grew up in San Jose ...

(2019, 23rd overall), and Joelle Anderson (

, 26th overall).

Men's tennis

In 1982 Brad Gilbert transferred to Pepperdine University, playing for

Allen Fox Allen E. Fox (born June 25, 1939) is an American former tennis player in the 1960s and 1970s who went on to be a college coach and author. He was ranked as high as U.S. No. 4 in 1962, and was in the top ten in the U.S. five times between 1961 ...

. He became an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n and reached the finals of the 1982 NCAA Championship. Gilbert is a 1999 inductee into the Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame.

Andrew Sznajder Andrew Sznajder (pronounced: shnigh-der) (born 25 May 1967) is a Canadian former professional tour tennis player. Sznajder achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 46 in September 1989. This was the highest any Canadian male was rank ...

played college tennis at Pepperdine, where he was a two-time All-American selection (1987 and 1988; he was # 3 in college rankings both years).Andrew Sznajder , Bio , ATP World Tour , Tennis
/ref> In 1988, he won the

Intercollegiate Tennis Association The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) is the governing body and coaches association of college tennis, both an advocate and authority, overseeing men’s and women’s varsity tennis at all levels – NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NC ...

indoor individual championship. He turned pro in his sophomore year. Israeli tennis player Boaz Merenstein also played for the school.

Water polo

Merrill Moses Merrill M. Moses (born August 13, 1977) is a United States Olympic silver medalist, three-time Olympian, and three-time Pan American Games gold medalist water polo goalkeeper. He played college water polo for Pepperdine University, where he ...

, three-time Olympic water polo player and silver medalist, played water polo for the Waves for four years from 1995-98. He was All-American honorable mention in 1996, first team in 1997, and second team in 1998. He was also All-

Mountain Pacific Sports Federation The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) is a college athletic conference with members located mostly in the western United States, although it now has members as far east as Pennsylvania. The conference participates at the NCAA Division I ...

all four years, and 1997 MPSF Goalkeeper of the Year. He helped lead Pepperdine to the 1997

championship, and was game and team MVP. Moses is now Associate Head Coach in water polo at Pepperdine.

Former sports

Football

Pepperdine played football from 1946 to 1961. At the end of the inaugural 1946 season the Waves defeated

Nebraska Wesleyan University Nebraska Wesleyan University (NWU) is a private Methodist-affiliated university in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was founded in 1887 by Nebraska Methodists. As of 2017, it has approximately 2,100 students including 1,500 full-time students and 300 ...

in the 1947 Will Rogers Bowl.

Facilities

* Alumni Park - Cross country * Eddy D. Field Stadium - baseball *

Firestone Fieldhouse Firestone Fieldhouse is a multipurpose arena located near Malibu, California, on the campus of Pepperdine University. It was built in 1973 as the home of the Pepperdine Waves basketball and volleyball teams, who still play at the Fieldhouse toda ...

- basketball & volleyball * Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool - women's swimming & diving and men's water polo * Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center - tennis * Stotsenberg Track - track & field *

Tari Frahm Rokus Field Tari may refer to: Places * Tari, Papua New Guinea, a town in the Hela Province of Papua New Guinea * Tari Urban LLG, a local-level government area of Papua New Guinea * Tari, Siliguri, a census town in Dajeeling district, West Bengal, India * Tar ...

- soccer *

Zuma Beach Zuma Beach is a county beach at 30000 Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) in Malibu, California. One of the largest and most popular beaches in Los Angeles County, California, it is known for its long, wide sands and excellent surf. It consistently rank ...

- beach volleyball home site * Athletics Performance Center - training facilities * Helen Stone Performance Center - athletics training & offices

Traditions

Mascot

The school's first mascot was Roland the Wave (a nod to the popular cheer "Roll on you Waves!"). From 1945 to 1950 the school used a wave costume (less amorphous than the current mascot's) on the sidelines. In 1951, Joe the Pelican was introduced at a football game. The idea was quickly dropped, however, because of the expense of caring for a live pelican. In 1952, Willy the Wave made his debut. Willy has always had the head and "hair" of a wave, though he has gone through several costumes, including one with white hair representing the foam of a wave, and the early 1990s version which bore a strong resemblance to the Mac Tonight mascot of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese commercials at the time. In 1996, Willy was replaced with King Neptune as part of a re-branding effort. The nickname never took off, however, and was scrapped in 2003. It was not until 2006, however, that Willy made his final return to Pepperdine athletics, this time with a larger wave head and usually wearing

boardshorts Boardshorts are a type of swimwear and casual wear in the form of relatively long (approximately knee length) loose-fitting shorts that are designed to be quick-drying and are generally made from strong and smooth polyester or nylon material. Or ...

and an

Aloha shirt The aloha shirt (), also referred to as a Hawaiian shirt, is a style of dress shirt originating in Hawaii. They are collared and buttoned dress shirts, usually short-sleeved and made from printed fabric. They are traditionally worn untucked, but ...

School colors

Since the founding, the school's colors have been blue and orange. They were chosen by President Baxter over the final choice of blue and gold as at the time, no other Pacific school used the colors, which represented the blue of the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

and the

oranges An orange is a fruit of various citrus species in the family Rutaceae (see list of plants known as orange); it primarily refers to ''Citrus'' × ''sinensis'', which is also called sweet orange, to distinguish it from the related ''Citrus × ...

grown by the state of California. (Cal State Fullerton has since adopted similar colors, though their shades are darker than Pepperdine's.)School Colors: Blue & Orange - PepperdineSports.com
/ref>

Gallery

File:Alumni Park (Pepperdine, Malibu).jpg, Alumni Park Cross Country Course File:Eddy D. Field Stadium (Pepperdine).jpg, Eddy D. Field Stadium File:Firestone Fieldhouse (Pepperdine).jpg, Firestone Fieldhouse File:Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool.jpg, Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool File:Ralph-Straus Tennis Center (Pepperdine University).jpg, Ralph-Straus Tennis Center File:Tari Frahm Rokus Field (Pepperdine Waves).jpg, Tari Frahm Rokus Field

References

External links

* {{Los Angeles Sports