The IUPUI Jaguars are the 18 intercollegiate teams that represent

Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, commonly referred to as IUPUI, is a public research university in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is a collaboration between Indiana University and Purdue University that offers undergraduate, grad ...

, in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. They compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. On July 1, 2017, IUPUI left the

Summit League The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States from Illinois on the East of the Mississippi River to the Dakotas and Nebraska on the W ...

to move to the

Horizon League The Horizon League is an 11-school collegiate athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, whose members are located in and near the Great Lakes region. The Horizon League founded in 1979 as the Midw ...

in all sports. The Jaguars were formerly known as the IUPUI Metros.

History

IUPUI first sponsored

intercollegiate athletics College athletics encompasses non-professional, collegiate and university-level competitive sports and games. World University Games The first World University Games were held in 1923. There were originally called the ''Union Nationale des É ...

in 1972, when the men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

team began play as the IUPUI Metros. Women's sports were first sponsored in 1975, when the women's basketball,

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

, and

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 Sum ...

teams first competed. In 1978, the Metros joined the NAIA. They joined

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 ...

in 1993 and moved up to

NCAA Division I 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 athletic ...

in 1997. Also in 1997, IUPUI joined the Mid-Continent Conference (now known as the

), and officially changed their nickname to the Jaguars. In 2000, the men's soccer team became the first Jaguar team to compete in an NCAA tournament. On August 12, 2022, the boards of trustees of both the IU and Purdue systems announced that IUPUI will split into two separate universities, with completion of the split to be finished by the fall 2024 semester. Administration of the athletic program will fall to the new Indiana University Indianapolis.

Sports

A member of the

, IUPUI sponsors teams in eight men's and ten 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: IUPUI had a baseball team from 1979 until 2001.

Men's basketball

The 1984–85 and 1989–90 men's basketball teams won the NAIA District 21 Tournament and advanced to the NAIA National Tournament. The 1989–90 Jaguars defeated Siena Heights in the NAIA Tournament, but lost their next game to Pfeiffer. The 2002–03 Jaguars won the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament (now called the

) and were the first men's basketball team to reach the NCAA tournament. They lost in the first round to

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

. Former basketball coach

Ron Hunter Ronald Eugene Hunter (born April 7, 1964) is an American college basketball coach and the current men's basketball head coach of the Tulane University Green Wave. His son, R. J. Hunter, was a first-round draft pick for the Boston Celtics. Hig ...

accepted the head coaching position at

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the largest institution of hig ...

and was succeeded by Todd Howard.

Men's soccer

The men's soccer team advanced to the NAIA Division 21 Playoffs in 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1993. The 1993 team advanced to the NAIA Division 21 Championship before their season ended. The 1994 team lost in the NAIA Division 21 Tournament. In 2000, the Jaguars won the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament. They defeated Marist in an NCAA tournament play-in game. Their season ended with a loss to SMU in their only NCAA tournament. That year, the Jaguars finished with an 11–9–2 record.

Women's basketball

The women's

team won the NAIA District 21 Tournament in 1989–1990 and 1990–1991. The 1990–1991 team advanced to the semifinals of the NAIA National Tournament before losing to Southwestern Oklahoma State. The Jaguars clinched their first NCAA tournament berth by winning the 2020 Horizon League women's basketball tournament.

Women's softball

The women's

team competes at the NAIA level from 1983 through 1991. The Lady Metros (now Jaguars) appeared in nine straight NAIA regional and national tournaments, finishing third place twice and fourth place twice during that time span. They were coached by P. Nicholas Kellum who is now a member of the IUPUI Athletic Hall of Fame and was the school's first athletic director and served as the dean of the School of Physical Education for many years.

Women's tennis

The 2002–2003 and 2003–2004

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 ...

teams won the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament. They then advanced to the NCAA Tournament where they lost in the first round.

Venues

Several Jaguars teams play in the IUPUI Gymnasium, popularly known as The Jungle. Since 2014 the men's basketball team has played at the

Indiana Farmers Coliseum The Indiana Farmers Coliseum (originally Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum and formerly Pepsi Coliseum and Fairgrounds Coliseum) is a 6,500-seat indoor multi-use arena, located on the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis. The Indiana Far ...

. The softball team plays at the IUPUI Softball Complex, and the

team plays at the West Indy Racquet Club. The

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

team competes at the Indiana University Natatorium, which has a capacity of 4,700. The soccer teams play at IU Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium.

Hall of Fame

*For an alphabetical list of inductees, see footnote *For a list of inductees by sport, see footnote *For a list of inductees by class year, see footnote *For a list of inductees by induction year, see footnote The IUPUI Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame was founded in 1993.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Iupui Jaguars 1972 establishments in Indiana Sports clubs established in 1972