The IU Indy Jaguars are the 18 intercollegiate teams that represent

Indiana University Indianapolis Indiana University Indianapolis (IU Indianapolis or IU Indy) is an urban public research university located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is a core campus of the Indiana University system. It was founded on July 1, 2024 after its predecesso ...

, in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. They compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The teams were established by

Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) was a public university from 1969 to 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It was a collaboration between Indiana University and Purdue University system, Purdue University, of ...

(IUPUI). The Jaguars were originally known as the IUPUI Metros.

History

IUPUI first sponsored

intercollegiate athletics College sports or college athletics encompasses amateur sports played by non-professional, collegiate and university-level student athletes in competitive sports and games. College sports have led to many college rivalries. College sports trac ...

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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

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

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

, 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 Summ ...

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

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the 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 environment ...

in 1993 and moved up to

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division 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 athlet ...

in 1997. Also in 1997, IU Indy joined the Mid-Continent Conference (now known as 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 Minnesota in the east, to the Dakotas, Nebraska and Colorado to the West, and Mis ...

), and officially changed their nickname to the Jaguars. In 2000, the men's

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

team became the first Jaguar team to compete in an NCAA tournament. On July 1, 2017, the Jaguars left the

to move to the

Horizon League The Horizon League is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the league's eleven member schools are located in ...

in all sports. On August 12, 2022, the boards of trustees of both the IU and

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

systems announced that IUPUI would split into two separate universities, with completion finalized on July 1, 2024. Administration of the athletic program fell to the new Indiana University Indianapolis. The official athletics website uses IU Indy as the main brand name, with the Jaguars nickname remaining in place.

Sports

A member of the

, IU Indy sponsors teams in eight men's and ten women's

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

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 landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. Former basketball coach

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

accepted the head coaching position at

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is al ...

and was succeeded by

Todd Howard Todd Andrew Howard (born 1970) is an American video game designer, Creative director, director, and Video game producer, producer. He serves as director and executive producer at Bethesda Game Studios, where he has led the development of the ...

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 The 2020 Horizon League women's basketball tournament is the postseason women's basketball tournament for the Horizon League. It will be held March 3 through March 10, 2020. The winner, IUPUI, earned the conference's automatic berth into the 20 ...

Men's soccer

The men's

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.

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 List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

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. From 2014 to 2023 the men's basketball team played at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum and returned to The Jungle in 2024. 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, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

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 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 ...

was founded in 1993.

References

External links

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