The Virginia Union Panthers are the athletic teams that represent

Virginia Union University Virginia Union University is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Richmond, Virginia. History The American Baptist Home Mission Society (ABHMS) founded the school as Rich ...

, located in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

, in

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. ...

Division II intercollegiate sports. The Panthers compete as members of the

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (originally and through 1950 known as the Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association — CIAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NC ...

for all 13 varsity sports. Virginia Union has been a member of the conference since 1912.

History

Virginia Union plays basketball and volleyball in the Barco-Stevens Hall, built as the

Belgian Building The Belgian Building, also known as the Belgian Friendship Building and Belgian Pavilion, is a historic building complex located in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It was originally constructed as the exhibition hall for the nation of Belgium ...

for the

1939 New York World's Fair The 1939 New York World's Fair (also known as the 1939–1940 New York World's Fair) was an world's fair, international exposition at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, New York, United States. The fair included exhibitio ...

. The building, which has stone reliefs depicting the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (, ; ) was a Belgian colonial empire, Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Repu ...

, was one of thirteen facilities designated as "unique" by ''NCAA News'' in 2005. The building was awarded to the university in 1941 and moved to its present location in 1943. The basketball team began using the facility in early 1947.

List of teams

Source:

Individual sports

Men's basketball

Under the leadership of head coach Dave Robbins since 1978, the Panthers basketball program has been to the Division II "Final Four" seven times (1980, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2005, 2006) and have won three NCAA Division II national championship titles (1980, 1992, 2005). The team was the 2006 National runner-up with a record of 30–4. The team has captured the

conference championship 20 times with the latest being 2018. The school plays in an annual exhibition game with the Division I cross-town rival Virginia Commonwealth University. Coach Robbins' program has produced eight

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

players, including

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

hall of fame center Ben Wallace, and former

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

Charles Oakley Charles Oakley (born December 18, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player. Oakley is best known for playing 10 of his 19 seasons in the National Basketball Association with the New York Knicks. As a power forward, he consisten ...

. Terry Davis Center Power Forward Miami Heat

Women's basketball

The women's basketball team won the

NCAA Women's Division II Basketball Championship The NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament (officially styled as "Championship" instead of "Tournament") is an annual tournament to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II women's college basketball nati ...

in 1983. The VUU women's basketball team were also the Division 2 National runners-up in 2016-2017 losing to Ashland University.

References

External links

* {{Richmond Sports