KSU Athletics - A Rich History and a Bright Future

Kennesaw State University’s stature as an academic institution very closely reflects the success its athletic teams have enjoyed throughout their history. Now an NCAA Division I athletic program sponsoring 16 intercollegiate sports and nearly 250 student-athletes, the Black and Gold has already amassed 12 Atlantic Sun Conference titles since moving up to the highest level of collegiate athletics in 2005.

The Owls boast nine women’s sports – cross-country, soccer, volleyball, basketball, indoor and outdoor track, softball, golf and tennis in addition to seven men’s sports including cross-country, basketball, indoor and outdoor track, baseball, tennis and golf.

After successfully completing the four-year re-classification period in June of 2009, the Owls status as a full-fledged Division I moved to national prominence as women’s soccer head coach Rob King led his women’s soccer team to a third Atlantic Sun Conference title and second trip to the NCAA Division I College Cup.

In addition, Mackenzie Howe made school history by becoming the first women’s cross-country athlete to qualify for Nationals. Men’s cross country also had a successful season, winning back to back Atlantic Sun Conference Championships in 2009 and 2010.

Moving up to Division I has and will continue to provide Kennesaw State with a tremendous platform to gain exposure on the national stage. From a competitive standpoint, however, the Owls have always been a force to be reckoned with on the field.

In their 11 years as an NCAA Division II program, the Black and Gold won five national championships, most recently in 2004 when Tony Ingle’s men’s basketball team took home the national crown. Ingle, regarded as one of the most affable and charismatic coaches in the game, is joined by King, softball coach Scott Whitlock and baseball head coach Mike Sansing as those who have led their teams to championships at the Division II level and are primed to do the same in Division I.

Many top-notch athletes and coaches from Kennesaw State have made their way onto the national sports scene. The Owls have produced five Major League Baseball players including Washington Nationals star Willie Harris. In 2009, the KSU baseball team saw two pitchers, Chad Jenkins and Kyle Heckathorn, selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. Men’s golfer, Matt Nagy, qualified as an amateur for the U.S. Open in Bethpage, NY.

Kennesaw State proudly produced over 100 All-Americans in 10 sports and has seen two of their softball players named NCAA Division II Player of the Year, a pitcher win the prestigious Baseball America College Player of the Year Award, and a cross-country runner win the NCAA Division II Runner of the Year title.

In recent years, the athletic department has responded to the desire to move Kennesaw State athletics to the forefront of the national spotlight. Just as there has been tremendous growth around campus with the recent additions of residential and academic buildings, the athletics facilities have also experienced dramatic upgrades.

The KSU Convocation Center, which opened in 2005, was a signal to the athletic community that the Owls were ready to compete with the best the competition had to offer. A multi-use facility that the men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball teams call home, the Convocation Center can hold 4,500 fans and is versatile enough to serve as a practice center for many of the Owls’ other varsity sports, as well.

In an effort to make it possible for all teams   to practice year-round, the volleyball,   men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball, and golf teams all recently saw the completion of indoor practice facilities for their respective sports, further solidifying the Kennesaw State athletics is a program soaring with the times.

Perhaps most exciting is the new women’s soccer stadium, located on the school’s East Campus. Opening its doors for the 2010 season, the stadium will is the home of the Atlanta Beat of the Women’s Professional Soccer League and the premier facilities in the country devoted primarily to women’s soccer. Its luxury boxes and cutting-edge design will be sure to help KSU shine even brighter on the national radar. The new stadium is already gaining notice as the NCAA named Kennesaw State as the host for the 2011 College Cup in women’s soccer.

As the Owls have been quick to find success at the NCAA Division I and II levels, the core of the Kennesaw State success is built on its successful past. Competing in the Georgia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference within the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), within their first six years of competition the new kids on the block were able to boast about National Champion in golf, an All-American in track, two national championship qualifiers in cross country, and a district championship in women’s basketball.

Sansing would later lead his baseball team to a national championship in 1994, their last year competing at the NAIA level. It quickly became clear the small school that had been tentatively named Cobb County Junior College upon inception was going to be making waves well beyond the county line for a long time to come.

Recounting the early days of KSU athletics can provide important perspective on how the program has reached the heights that it has soared to today and why there is every reason to believe that this may just be the beginning.

At every level, the Owls have shined competitively. If history is any indication, the best is yet to come, for both this dynamic institution of higher education and our growing department of athletics. 

Current students receive free admission to KSU athletics events with their student ID and friends and family can purchase tickets here.