The Lenoir–Rhyne Bears are the athletic teams that represent

Lenoir–Rhyne University Lenoir–Rhyne University is a private Lutheran university in Hickory, North Carolina. It was founded in 1891 and is affiliated with the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Academics The university is acc ...

, located in

Hickory, North Carolina Hickory is a city in western North Carolina primarily located in Catawba County, North Carolina, Catawba County. The List of municipalities in North Carolina, 25th most populous city in the state, it is located approximately northwest of Charlot ...

, in intercollegiate sports at the Division II level of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association 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. ...

(NCAA). The Bears have primarily competed in the

South Atlantic Conference The South Atlantic Conference (SAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the southeastern United States. The SAC was founded in 1975 as ...

since the 1989–90 academic year. Lenoir–Rhyne competes in 23 intercollegiate varsity sports. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, tennis, and track and field (indoor and outdoor); while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field (indoor and outdoor), triathlon, and volleyball.

Conference affiliations

(1989–present)

Varsity teams

Baseball

Lenoir–Rhyne has had 7

Major League Baseball Draft The Major League Baseball draft (officially the Rule 4 Draft; also known as the first-year player draft or amateur draft) is the primary mechanism by which Major League Baseball (MLB) assigns amateur baseball players from high schools, colleg ...

selections since the draft began in 1965.

Football

Men's Lacrosse

On May 28, 2023, Lenoir-Rhyne defeated Mercyhurst 20-5 in the NCAA Division II National Championship.

Notable alumni

Football

* Perry Fewell * Tommy Laurendine * Craig Keith * John Milem * Kyle Dugger * Dareke Young

Men's basketball

Rick Barnes Richard Barnes (born July 17, 1954) is an American college basketball coach who is currently the head coach at the University of Tennessee. He is also known for coaching at the University of Texas from 1998 to 2015, taking the team to the NCAA ...

Will Perry William Kiah Perry (born October 11, 1994) is an American professional basketball player. Standing at 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in), Perry plays as point guard. Alumnus of Lenoir–Rhyne University, he has played several years of professional bask ...

* Eddie Holbrook

Men's soccer

* Oriol Cortes * Aaron Wheeler * Cameron Saul

References

External links

* {{NorthCarolina-sport-team-stub