The Southern Illinois Salukis are the varsity athletic teams representing
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Southern Illinois University (SIU or SIUC) is a public research university in Carbondale, Illinois. Founded in 1869, SIU is the oldest and flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system. The university enrolls students from all 50 st ...
. The nickname comes from the
Saluki
The Saluki, also known as the Persian Greyhound, is a standardised breed developed from sighthounds – dogs that hunt primarily by sight rather than scent – that was once used by nomadic tribes to run down game animals. The dog was origin ...
, the Royal Dog of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
and the Persian greyhound, which ties into the fact that southern Illinois has had the nickname "
Little Egypt" for just under 200 years.
The Salukis play their home basketball games at
Banterra Center and football games at
Saluki Stadium.
Southern Illinois University was a member of the
Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
The Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) was a college athletic conference that existed from 1908 to 1970 in the United States.
At one time the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, or IIAC, was a robust league that clai ...
from 1913 to 1962. The school is currently a member of the
Missouri Valley Conference
The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest.
History
The MVC was established ...
in most sports. The football team is a member of the Division I
Football Championship Subdivision
The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athleti ...
Missouri Valley Football Conference
The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), formerly the Gateway Football Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivi ...
.
Mascot
SIU's sports
mascot
A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fic ...
is the
Saluki
The Saluki, also known as the Persian Greyhound, is a standardised breed developed from sighthounds – dogs that hunt primarily by sight rather than scent – that was once used by nomadic tribes to run down game animals. The dog was origin ...
. A Saluki is one of the oldest dog breeds, dating back over 6000 years and is an Egyptian hunting dog. They are sight hounds and can run in excess of 42 mph. The greyhound, afghan, borzoi and whippet are derived from Saluki.
SIU's teams originally competed under the team name "Maroons" from 1913 to 1951.
Then the Saluki was chosen as SIU's mascot on March 19, 1951, in part because the southern Illinois region is colloquially known as
Little Egypt.
Sports sponsored
A member of the
Missouri Valley Conference
The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest.
History
The MVC was established ...
, Southern Illinois University Carbondale currently sponsors 16 sports—eight each for men and women—in NCAA-sanctioned competition. The most recent change to the roster of SIU sports came at the end of the 2016–17 school year, when the school dropped men's and women's tennis.
Men's basketball
The school athletics may be best known for the men's basketball program. Success for the Salukis has been recent and historical. SIU has advanced to six consecutive NCAA Tournaments (2002–2007), advancing to two Sweet 16s and accruing an NCAA Tournament record of 5–6 during that time. SIU is also the 1967
NIT Champions led by
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 S ...
Hall of Famer
Walt Frazier
Walter "Clyde" Frazier Jr. (born March 29, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player of the National Basketball Association (NBA). As their floor general and top perimeter defender, he led the New York Knicks to the franchise's o ...
.
Chris Lowery
Christopher Michael Lowery (born July 7, 1972) is an American college basketball coach currently serving as an assistant men's basketball coach at Northwestern University under head coach Chris Collins. He was previously the head men's basketbal ...
was the coach of the Salukis and led the team to the NCAA tournament every year from the 2004–05 season through the 2006–07 season, where they made an appearance in the Sweet Sixteen. He was let go from the school following the 2011–2012 season. On March 28, 2012,
Barry Hinson was named head coach.
Football
SIU competes in the
NCAA Football Championship Subdivision
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athleti ...
(formerly known as 1-AA) in the
Missouri Valley Football Conference
The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), formerly the Gateway Football Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivi ...
. SIU has been ranked in the Top-20 of the FCS Coaches Poll for 54 straight weeks. The Salukis have won 40 games since 2003, ranking 12th in Division 1 football during that time span. The team is coached by head coach
Nick Hill
Nick Hill (born April 5, 1985) is an American football coach and former quarterback. He is the head football coach at his alma mater, Southern Illinois University. Hill was signed by the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) as an u ...
, a former assistant coach and quarterback for the Salukis.
SIU Football has won numerous conference championship and in 1983 The Salukis won the
NCAA Division I-AA Champions, with a 43–7 win over
Western Carolina.
Men's gymnastics
SIU's also had a men's
gymnastics
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shoul ...
team until the program was canceled in 1989.
From 1956 until the program was canceled,
Bill Meade was the coach of the team.
During that time the program turned out 55 NCAA
All-Americans
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 ...
and 15 NCAA Individual National Champions while winning four NCAA Division I championships in 1964, 1966, 1967, and 1972.
The Men's Gymnastics program also holds the longest winning streak of any SIU program winning 68 consecutive meets from 1961 to 1968.
Softball
SIU's softball team has appeared in four
Women's College World Series
The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States. Eight teams participate in the WCWS, which begins with a double-elimination tournament. In other wo ...
, in 1970, 1971, 1977 and 1978.
National team championships
As of July 2, 2014, Southern Illinois has won 5 Division I and 3 Division II NCAA national championships:
Division I
*Men's:
**
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shoul ...
(4): 1964, 1966, 1967, 1972
**
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 ca ...
(1): 1983
Division II
*Men's:
**
Men's Cross Country: 1961
**
Golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping w ...
: 1964
**
Tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...
: 1964
The following 3 national championships were not bestowed by the NCAA:
*Women's
**
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shoul ...
: 1970, 1974, 1975 (
AIAW
The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Interc ...
)
Facilities
Saluki Way
On September 9, 2005, the plans for Saluki Way were unveiled by Chancellor Walter Wendler. The plan called for the construction of a new football stadium, renovation of SIU Arena (Now the
Banterra Center), a new track and field complex, renovation and new additions of academic buildings, a remodeled Morris Library, and other campus improvements.
Saluki Stadium
SIU Football plays at the new 15,000-seat
Saluki Stadium, which replaces
McAndrew Stadium. The new stadium was part of the university's larger athletic facilities plan, "Saluki Way," to renovate and restructure the campus athletic facilities.
Saluki Stadium opened on September 2, 2010, when a sellout crowd of 15,200 watched the Salukis defeat
Quincy 70–7. The new football stadium is currently named Saluki Stadium. As of right now, no official naming rights have been sold.
Banterra Center
Banterra Center is an 8,339-seat arena on the SIU campus; it is the home of Saluki men's and women's basketball teams. The arena underwent a renovation as a part of Saluki Way. Known as the SIU Arena from 1964 to 2019, Banterra Bank purchased the naming rights for $4 million over ten years, with an option to extend the contract for an additional ten years for an additional $6 million.
Troutt-Wittman Center
The Troutt-Wittmann Academic and Training Center,
SIUSalukis.com
article regarding Troutt-Wittmann Center a facility to give Saluki athletes the opportunity to gain help with their studies, as well as train and condition, was built with a donation by SIU alumnus and former Saluki football player Thomas Wittmann.
See also
* Saluki Sports Network
* Marching Salukis
References
External links
*
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