About TU
Quick Facts
Location: Tulsa, Okla.
Founded: 1894
Enrollment: 4,563 (Total); 3,406 (undergraduate)
Nickname: Golden Hurricane
Colors: Old Gold, Royal Blue, Crimson
Affiliation: NCAA Division 1, FBS Football
Conference: American Athletic Conference
President: Dr. Gerard Clancy
Faculty Representative: Christopher Anderson
Vice President and Director of Athletics: Dr. Derrick Gragg
Sports Offered: Men (7) - Basketball, Cross Country, Football, Indoor Track & Field, Outdoor Track & Field, Soccer, Tennis
Women (10) - Basketball, Cross Country, Golf, Indoor Track & Field, Outdoor Track & Field, Rowing, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, Volleyball
Contact Information
Mailing Address:
Department of Intercollegiate Athletics
The University of Tulsa
800 S. Tucker Drive
Tulsa, OK 74104
Main Athletic Phone: 918.631.3112
Tulsa Athletics Points of Pride
• Tulsa is an NCAA Division I member for all sports. Tulsa is a member of the American Athletic Conference, a league the school joined on July 1, 2014.
• Tulsa joined The American Athletic Conference beginning July 1, 2014. The American consists of the University of Central Florida, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Connecticut, East Carolina University, the University of Houston, the University of Memphis, Southern Methodist University, the University of South Florida, Temple University, Tulane University, The University of Tulsa and Wichita State University. The U.S. Naval Academy is a football-only member.
• Tulsa currently sponsors 17 intercollegiate sports. Women: Basketball, Cross Country, Golf, Indoor Track, Rowing, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, Outdoor Track, Volleyball; Men: Basketball, Cross Country, Football, Indoor Track, Soccer, Tennis, Outdoor Track
• Tulsa has won six national championships, four in women's golf (1982 and 1988 NCAA; and 1980 and 1982 AIAW titles) and two in men’s basketball (1981 and 2001 NIT). Tulsa basketball also won the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) Championship in 2008.
• In school history, Tulsa has had 69 Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-Americans.
• In the NACDA Learfield Director’s Cup standing, The University of Tulsa had its highest-ever ranking in 2010-11 with a ranking of 51. In 2016-17, Tulsa had a ranking of 68th in the Learfield Director’s Cup to lead all American Athletic Conference schools.
• The origination of The University of Tulsa nickname –– Golden Hurricane. In 1922, the team started working out in the fall with a new nickname "Yellow Jackets." In the past, Tulsa had been named "Kendallites," "Presbyterians," Tigers," "Orange and Black," "Tulsans," and, of course, "Yellow Jackets." Head coach Howard Acher, after a remark in practice about "roaring through opponents," had seriously considered "Golden Tornadoes". However, it was learned that Georgia Tech already had chosen that tag in 1917. From the tornado, he evolved meteorologically to the hurricane. A few days before the team left for a game against Texas A&M, Acher asked the squad to vote on the name "Golden Hurricane," the gold being added because of the color of their new jerseys.
• Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium capacity is 30,000 for football. The stadium was built in 1930. Tulsa plays its home basketball and volleyball games at the Donald W. Reynolds Center, which opened in December 1998, on the TU campus. The arena seats 8,355 for basketball. The Donna J. Hardesty Sports Complex houses a Collins Family Softball Complex, the Hurricane Soccer and Track Stadium and a soccer practice field. The Michael D. Case Tennis Center is one of the nation’s premier tennis facilities. The J. Bird Shell Nest on the Verdigris River is the home site for the Tulsa rowing team.
• Tulsa Golden Hurricane athletics has brought increased national exposure to the city of Tulsa through nationally televised athletic events (most recently ESPN, CBS Sports Network, CBS and Fox Sports Network) and additional national media coverage.
• Tulsa was the first university to play in five straight New Year's Day Bowl Games, including the 1942 Sun Bowl, 1943 Sugar Bowl, 1944 Sugar Bowl, 1945 Orange Bowl and 1946 Oil Bowl.
• Tulsa's football teams have appeared in 21 Bowl games. Tulsa has appeared in 10 bowl games in the last 14 years (since 2003) including –– 2003 Humanitarian Bowl, 2005 AutoZone Liberty Bowl, 2006 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, GMAC Bowl in January 2008 and 2009, 2010 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, 2011 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, 2012 AutoZone Liberty Bowl, 2015 Independence Bowl and the 2016 Miami Beach Bowl.
• Tulsa football finished the 1991 season ranked 21st in the nation by the Associated Press and USA Today/Coaches polls. Tulsa football was ranked as high at 18th nationally by the AP poll in the 2008 season. In 2010, the Golden Hurricane finished the season ranked 24th nationally in the AP poll and in 2012 completed the year ranked 25th nationally.
• Three Tulsa women golfers have won individual national championships – Nancy Lopez (1976), Kathy Baker (1982) and Melissa McNamara (1988).
• The University of Tulsa has three Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees. Steve Largent and the late Jim Finks were members of the 1995 class, while Bob St. Clair was a 1990 inductee. TU shares the lead for the most NFL Hall of Fame inductees among the FBS (Division I-A) football schools in the state of Oklahoma.
• Tulsa has three former student-athletes and two coaches as members of the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame. The inductees include players –– Glenn Dobbs, Howard Twilley and Jerry Rhome –– and coaches Francis Schmidt and John Cooper.
• Clarence Iba, brother of the legendary Henry Iba, has generally been regarded as the man who played the most vital part in building the basketball program of the Golden Hurricane in the 1950s.
• Tulsa's men’s basketball team has made a total of 30 postseason tournament appearances, including 25 since the 1980-81 season (37 years), including 15 times in the NCAA Tournament, eight times in the NIT and twice in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI). Tulsa has advanced to the NCAA Tournament "Sweet Sixteen" three times, and "Elite Eight" once. The Hurricane won NIT titles in 1981 and 2001, and captured the CBI championship in 2008.
• The University of Tulsa can take much of the credit for developing the passing game in collegiate football in the 1960's. Tulsa led the nation in passing in 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965 and 1966. Quarterbacks Jerry Rhome (1964) and Billy Guy Anderson (1965), and receiver Howard Twilley (1964-65) set most of the NCAA passing and receiving records, some of which still stand today.
• TU football players who had tremendous NFL careers include: David Alexander, Steve August, Don Blackmon, Dennis Byrd, Steve Largent, Ralph McGill, Jerry Ostroski, Drew Pearson, Ray Rhodes, Bob St. Clair, Howard Twilley and Gus Frerotte.
• Two of the NFL’s African-American head coaches were graduates of The University of Tulsa –– Lovie Smith (formerly with the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and Ray Rhodes (formerly of the Green Bay Packers). Smith led his Bears team to an appearance in the 2007 Super Bowl.
• Tulsa's women's golf team has won four national championships, the latest in 1988, and has finished in second place five times. The women's team has produced more than 30 All-Americans.
• The TU women golfers have made the national tournament in 34 years in the program’s existence, including 27 times to the championship finals.
• Tulsa has had two female athletes earn Conference Athlete of the Year honors (for all sports), including golfer Stacy Prammanasudh in the Western Athletic Conference in 2001-02 and basketball player Jillian Robbins in Conference USA for 2005-06.
• In 24 years as a conference member, the Tulsa women’s golf team has won 12 conference championships, including the final seven straight league titles as a member of the Western Athletic Conference. Tulsa won two Conference USA crowns.
• TU's list of golfers that have played on the LPGA tour is a Who's Who of Women's Golf. Included on this list are Nancy Lopez, Kathy Baker-Guadagnino, Jody Rosenthal Anschutz, Carolyn Hill, Kelly Robbins, Carin Koch and Stacy Prammanasudh to name a few. Tulsa’s LPGA stars combined to win over 70 LPGA tournament titles, including six majors.
• The TU men's soccer team has made 11 NCAA Tournament appearances. The first NCAA appearance came in the 1991 season.
• TU men’s soccer won three straight Conference USA regular season and post-season titles (2007-09), while posting a consecutive streak of 21 regular season conference victories. Tulsa also won three consecutive American Athletic Conference postseason titles in its first three years as a league member (2014, 2015 and 2016)
• The men's tennis team has won 16 conference championships and has made 18 NCAA appearances.
• In 2011, the Tulsa men’s tennis team advanced to the Round of 16 of the NCAA Championship for the first time in school history, and followed that up in 2012 with its second NCAA Round of 16 appearance.
• The men’s tennis team earned its highest national ranking ever in the 2007-09 campaign with a No. 8 ranking during the 2008 spring season, while the women’s highest national ranking of No. 19 came in the 2011 spring season.
• The women’s tennis team has advanced to 13 NCAA Tournaments, and has won seven conference championships (C-USA – 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012; AAC – 2015, 2016).
• The TU women’s tennis team posted a school-best 25-2 record and a nationally ranking of 19th in the ITA poll in 2010-11. The Tulsa women were ranked as high as 14th nationally in the 2015-16 season (Feb. 23, 2016).
• Arnau Brugues (2005-09) was a four-time tennis All-American and in the 2008-09 season was the nation’s number-one ranked tennis player for the majority of the spring season.
• In 2013, junior Japie DeKlerk advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Singles Championship.
• In the fall of 2006, Arnau Brugues won the school’s first tennis national individual title by winning the ITA Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Championship.
• The women's soccer team finished both the 1992 and '93 seasons ranked among the nation's top 25, including 18th in 1993 and 21st in 1992.
• In 1988, the TU track& field team produced The University of Tulsa’s first Rhodes Scholar since 1957 – Peter Bednekoff. In 2016, cross-country and track athlete Kirk Smith gave the University another Rhodes Scholar.
• In 2012, junior Chris O’Hare became Tulsa’s first National Individual Champion in the sport of track by winning the NCAA Indoor Mile Run. A year earlier, he finished second overall at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships.
• In the winter of 2013, Chris O’Hare set the NCAA record for the indoor mile run at the Millrose Games Wanamaker Mile in New York City with a time of 3:52.98.
• In 2017, senior long distance runner Marc Scott gave the school’s its second National Individual Champion in the sport of track & field by winning the NCAA Outdoor 10,000-meters. Scott completed his career by earning All-America honors nine times.
• In 1976, the first year of the Tulsa volleyball program, the Hurricane won the Oklahoma AIAW State Small College Tournament, the Southwest AIAW Regional Tournament and advanced to the AIAW Small College National Tournament.
• The TU women’s volleyball team posted a school-best 31-3 record in 2010 and won the Conference USA Championship with a perfect 20-0 record. Tulsa also advanced to it’s second NCAA Tournament in school history, and won its first round match against LSU. Tulsa finished the season ranked 20th in the final AVCA Coaches poll.
• A year later in 2011, the TU volleyball team won its second straight C-USA Championship and made the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the second round after a first round victory over Oklahoma. The Hurricane won its third straight title in 2012 with the regular season and post-season crowns.
• The Tulsa volleyball team posted 10 straight 20-win seasons (2005-14), the most consecutive 20-win seasons in school history.
• In 2006, the Tulsa volleyball team won the school’s first-ever conference regular season title for women’s volleyball, and followed that in 2007 with its first post-season crown in Conference USA. The 2007 campaign was also the school’s first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
• Former TU basketball player Michael Ruffin was an NCAA Top VIII Award winner in 1999, one of the NCAA’s top awards. Track star Shana Robinson was a finalist for the 2004 NCAA Women of the Year award.
• In its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, Tulsa's women's tennis team advanced to the second round of the 2000 NCAA Championships and completed the season with a 21-6 record.
• Tulsa men’s basketball has won over 600 games since 1980-81 for an average of over 20.4 wins per year over the last 37 seasons (754 wins through the 2016-17 season).
• The Tulsa women’s basketball team won its first-ever league title with a Conference USA Championship and post-season tournament championship in 2005-06. Tulsa advanced to the school’s first-ever NCAA Tournament, and winning its first round game.
• Tulsa women’s basketball made its second trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2013 after winning the C-USA Tournament Championship.
• The Tulsa women’s basketball team made back-to-back appearances in the WNIT in 2004 and 2005. The 2004 appearance was the school’s first-ever postseason appearance.
• The Tulsa softball team captured its first-ever conference title by winning the 2006 Conference USA Championship, and added it’s second league crown in 2009 and third in 2012. Tulsa softball has won a total of 12 conference championships, including six regular season and six post-season titles.
• Tulsa softball has made nine NCAA Tournament appearances in the last 12 years. Tulsa made its first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2006, and returned in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017.
• Tulsa has hosted five NCAA national championships in school history, including the 1999 and 2014 NCAA Women’s Golf Championships at Tulsa Country Club, the 2004 NCAA Men’s Tennis Championships and the 2008 and 2016 NCAA Men’s & Women’s Tennis Championships at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center. Tulsa also hosted the the firt two rounds of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship at the downtown BOK Center in 2011 and 2017. Tulsa has also hosted the ITA National Championships event in the fall season ever since the fall of 2005.
• In 2016, soccer student-athlete Katy Riojas was awarded the prestigious Walter Byers Postgraduate scholarship, while rower Emelia Seto received the 2016 Jim McKay Scholarship, both awarded by the NCAA.
• In 2016, the Tulsa football team put its name in NCAA record books and into the College Football Hall of Fame when the Golden Hurricane became the first team with a 3,000-yard passer (Dane Evans), two 1,000-yard rushers (D’Angelo Brewer and James Flanders) and two 1,000-yard receivers (Keevan Lucas and Josh Atkinson) in the same season.
• Quarterback Dane Evans was named to the prestigious Allstate AFCA Good Works Team as a senior in the fall of 2016.
(updated July 20, 2017)