The Towson Tigers, formerly the ''Towson College Knights'', are the athletics teams of

Towson University Towson University (TU or Towson) is a public university in Towson, Maryland. Founded in 1866 as Maryland's first training school for teachers, Towson University is a part of the University System of Maryland. Since its founding, the university h ...

. All of the major athletic teams compete in 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 ...

with 19 Division I athletic teams (13 in women's sports, 6 in men's sports). Gymnastics competes in the EAGL conference, having rejoined the league in the Spring of 2012. Since joining the CAA in 2001–02, the Tigers have won 16 league championships; the Tigers have won titles in football, baseball, men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse, men's soccer, men's golf, women's swimming and diving, and volleyball. In addition, the women's gymnastics program has captured six ECAC Championships over the last eight years (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010). During an athletics history that traces its roots to the 1920s, Towson has sent teams and individual student-athletes to NCAA post-season competition in baseball, basketball, football, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, track & field and volleyball. In May 2011, the department broke ground on the

SECU Arena SECU Arena is a 5,200-seat multi-purpose arena on the Towson University campus in Towson, Maryland. The arena was completed and opened in 2013, and now hosts the men's and women's basketball teams, as well as the volleyball and gymnastics teams ...

, a new 5000-seat, state-of-the-art arena for basketball, volleyball and gymnastics. The arena was completed in May 2013 and opened in June 2013.

Varsity teams

Towson University sponsors teams in six men's and thirteen women's

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 ...

sanctioned sports: * * = The gymnastics team competes in 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 ...

. Changes since 2000 to the men's programs include the elimination of several varsity sports in the 2003–04 school year: indoor track, outdoor track, cross country, tennis. Changes to the women's programs include the additions of golf in 2007. Men's soccer was eliminated in 2013.

Football

The Tigers won the 2011 CAA Championship with a 7–1 conference record. Towson became the first team in NCAA history to compete in the playoffs at all three levels of competition in football (DI, DII and DIII). Following the 2011 season, Head Coach

Rob Ambrose Rob Ambrose (born July 30, 1970) is an American college football coach. From 2009 to 2022, he was head coach of the Towson Tigers football team of Towson University. Ambrose was formerly the offensive coordinator of the UConn Huskies before bein ...

won the

Eddie Robinson Award The Eddie Robinson Award is awarded annually to college football's top head coach in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA). The award was established by The Sports Network, since merged into Stats Perform, ...

as the top college football coach in 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 ...

(formerly Division I-AA), and Towson freshmen

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

Terrance West won the inaugural

Jerry Rice Award The Jerry Rice Award is awarded annually in the United States to the most outstanding freshman player in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of college football as chosen by a nationwide panel of media and college sports inf ...

as the most outstanding freshman player in Division I Football Championship Subdivision.

Basketball

Lacrosse

Towson's men's lacrosse team is a nationally known program, regularly appearing in the NCAA tournament with two NCAA finals appearances to their credit. In 1974, the Tigers finished with a 14–1 record and won the Division II national title with an 18–17 overtime win over Hobart. The team also reached the finals of the

1991 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship The 1991 tournament championship game was played at the Carrier Dome in front of 8,293 fans. Tournament overview North Carolina completed a perfect 16 and 0 season by defeating Towson 18-13, to win the NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championshi ...

, and reached the semifinals of the 2001 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship. The Tigers maintain an annual rivalry with the

Loyola Greyhounds The Loyola Greyhounds are the athletic teams that represent Loyola University Maryland. The teams include men and women's basketball, cross country, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, swimming & diving, and tennis. Men's sports also include golf, while w ...

(see Loyola–Towson lacrosse rivalry).

Notable non-varsity sports

Rugby

Founded in 1975, Towson University men's rugby club plays

college rugby College rugby is played by men and women throughout colleges and universities in the United States of America. Seven-a-side and fifteen-a-side variants of rugby union are most commonly played. Most collegiate rugby programs do not fall under the ...

in Division 1AA in the MARC against local rivals from Maryland, DC, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Towson rugby has been led by head coach Tony De Cesare, with assistance coach Tim Cahill. In 2012, Towson reached the Division 2 national playoffs, defeating Boston University in the round of 16 and Colgate in the quarterfinals, before losing to Salisbury in the semifinals. Towson finished the 2012 season with a 14–5 record, ranked #5 in the nation in Division 2, with flyhalf Christian Lowe named to the All Division 2 team. In the 2013 season, Towson again reached the Division 2 national playoffs. Towson defeated Illinois State 34–19 in the round of 16, and defeated UNC-Wilmington 30–5 in the quarterfinals, before once again falling to rival Salisbury 23–10 in the semifinals.Rugby Mag, DII College Playoff Bracket Updated, May 11, 2013, http://www.rugbymag.com/men's-dii-college-/7779-dii-college-playoff-bracket-set.html

CAA Championship teams

Men's

*Baseball: 2013 *Football: 2011, 2012 *Golf: 2010 *Lacrosse: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019 *Soccer: 2006 *Swimming & Diving: 2021

Women's

*Basketball: 2018-19 *Lacrosse: 2005, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 *Swimming and Diving: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 *Track & Field (outdoor): 2017 *Volleyball: 2004, 2019, 2020, 2021

Notable athletes

Football

Sean Landeta Sean Edward Landeta (born January 6, 1962) is an American former professional football player who was a punter in both the United States Football League (USFL) and the National Football League (NFL). Landeta played 22 seasons in the NFL for f ...

Dave Meggett David Lee Meggett (born April 30, 1966) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He played college football at Towson and was selected by the New York Giants in the fifth round o ...

Jermon Bushrod Jermon Terrell Bushrod (born August 19, 1984) is a former American football guard. He played college football for Towson UniversityTaft Coghill, Jr.,"Saints' Bushrod set to march into town," ''The Free Lance–Star'' (December 5, 2009). and was ...

Terrance West Terrance West (born January 28, 1991) is a former American football running back. He played college football at Towson and was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the third round of the 2014 NFL Draft. West has also played for the Tennessee Ti ...

Jordan Dangerfield Jordan Isaac Aldon Dangerfield (born December 25, 1990) is an American football safety who is currently a free agent. He played college football at Towson and was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Buffalo Bills in 2013. Dangerfield has ...

Tye Smith Tye Smith (born May 3, 1993) is an American football cornerback for the Orlando Guardians of the XFL. He played college football at Towson University and was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL Draft. He has a ...

Baseball

Chris Nabholz Christopher William Nabholz (born January 5, 1967) is a former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Montreal Expos (1990–1993), Cleveland Indians (1994), Boston Red Sox (1994) and Chicago Cubs (1995). He batted and threw ...

Casper Wells Casper Charles Wells V (born November 23, 1984) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners, Oakland Athletics, Chicago White Sox, and Philadelphia Phillies ...

Basketball

Tamir Goodman Tamir Goodman (born January 18, 1982) is a former American-Israeli professional basketball player. He was dubbed by ''Sports Illustrated'' magazine as the "Jewish Michael Jordan, Jordan". After playing basketball for the Talmudical Academy of Ba ...

Gary Neal Gary Neal (born October 3, 1984) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He played college basketball at La Salle University and Towson University. He began his professional career abroad with teams in Turkey, Spain and ...

Jerrelle Benimon Jerrelle Benimon (born August 1, 1991) is an American former professional basketball player. In college, he was the 2012–13 Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year as a redshirt junior after leading the Towson Tigers to the greatest si ...

Men's soccer

Phil Greatwich Philip Carlo Barbon Greatwich (born 21 January 1987) is a former footballer who played as a full-back. Born in England, he played for the Philippines national team internationally. Club career Greatwich was born in Brighton, and began his f ...

* Machel Millwood * Nigel Marples

Gymnastics

Kacy Catanzaro Kacy Esther Catanzaro (born January 14, 1990) is an American professional wrestler, gymnast and athletics-based television personality. She is currently signed with WWE on the NXT brand under the ring name Katana Chance. She competed ...

* Julija Kovaliova

References

External links

* {{Maryland Sports