The West Virginia State Yellow Jackets (also WVSU) are the athletic teams that represent

West Virginia State University West Virginia State University (WVSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, land-grant university in Institute, West Virginia, United States. Founded in 1891 as the West Virginia Color ...

, located in

Institute, West Virginia Institute is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community on the Kanawha River in Kanawha County, West Virginia, Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States. Interstate 64 in West Virginia, Interstate 64 and West Virginia Route 25 pass by the ...

, in

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 ...

intercollegiate sports. The Yellow Jackets compete as members of the

Mountain East Conference The Mountain East Conference (MEC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level and officially began competition on September 1, 2013. It consists of 11 schools, m ...

for all ten varsity sports. West Virginia State was a founding member of the conference following the demise of the

West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) was a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference which historically operated exclusively in the state of West Virginia, but briefly had one Kentucky member in its early y ...

in 2013. WVSU's main rivals are the

University of Charleston The University of Charleston (UC) is a private university with its main campus in Charleston, West Virginia. It also has a location in Beckley, West Virginia, known as UC-Beckley. History The school was founded in 1888 as the Barboursville Semin ...

(WV), Central State University (OH), and Kentucky State University.

History

During the segregation era, the school competed in athletics as "West Virginia" and played other segregated schools as a member of the Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association. After desegregation, the school withdrew from the CIAA (today's

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 ...

) and competed as "West Virginia State" to avoid confusion with

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

. The school then moved to the formerly all-white

, which competed in the

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. ...

's Division II. After the dissolution of the WVIAC, WVSU joined the new

in 2013, which is part of Division II. During the segregation era, black high schools were barred from competition in the

West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission The West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission (WVSSAC, but colloquially referred to as SSAC) is the main governing body of high school sports, cheerleading, and marching bands in West Virginia, United States. Beginning with the 2024-25 s ...

, and State therefore sponsored an unofficial "state colored championship" from 1932 to 1959.

Varsity teams

Sources:

Football

The football team was ranked in the NCAA's Division II Football Poll in 2008. They played in the

Chicago Football Classic Chicago is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous city in the United States after New York City and Los ...

, which is for

HBCU Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of serving African Americans. Most are in the Southern U ...

colleges and universities, at

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side, Chicago, Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears from the National ...

in 2008. They defeated the Marauders of

Central State University Central State University (CSU) is a public, historically black land-grant university in Wilberforce, Ohio, United States. It is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Established by the state legislature in 1887 as a two-y ...

. The Yellow Jackets football team has also played in the Palmetto Capital City Classic against

Benedict College Benedict College is a private historically black college in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1870 by northern Baptists, it was originally a teachers' college. It has since expanded to offer majors in many disciplines across ...

and the Dayton Classic against Central State. In December 2012, Jon Anderson was named the 13th head football coach in Yellow Jackets history. Anderson came to WVSU after serving on the coaching staff of NAIA football powerhouse the University of Sioux Falls (USF). During Anderson's time on the coaching staff at USF, the school won three NAIA national championships.

Accolades

Other accolades of the Yellow Jackets athletic teams include the men's basketball team ranking #24 in the U.S. on the NCAA's Division II preseason top 25 bulletin for 2009–10, the men's baseball team receiving the WVIAC Sportsmanship Award for 2008–09, the women's cheerleading squad taking third place for the WVIAC Presidents' Cup in 2007–08, the women's golf team finishing sixth place at the WVIAC Women's Golf Championship in 2009, and the 2009 WVIAC Coach Poll ranking the WVSU women's volleyball team at number 2 for the start of the 2009 season.

Notable athletes

Earl Lloyd Earl Francis Lloyd (April 3, 1928 – February 26, 2015) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He was the first African American player to play a game in the National Basketball Association (NBA). An All–American player at ...

History

Varsity teams

Football

Accolades

Notable athletes

Notes

References

External links