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 17 intercollegiate sports and nearly 250 student-athletes, the Black and Gold have 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, while the men host seven men’s sports including, cross-country, basketball, indoor and outdoor track, baseball, tennis and golf. In addition, the department is adding women’s lacrosse, with competition beginning in the spring of 2013.

Kennesaw State has made it clear that they strive to have the athletic leadership in place that will take them to heights never before seen, and the appointment of Vaughn Williams as the Director of Athletics in April 2011 demonstrates that desire. Williams has a pedigree that includes six years in senior administration in the athletic department at the University of Connecticut, where he helped solidify the Huskies as one of the premier athletic programs in the nation. His background also includes time at Boston College, the University of Utah and the University Toledo, bringing with him to Kennesaw a wealth of knowledge from the top of collegiate athletics.

Championship-minded individuals like to surround themselves with those that have similar aspirations, and Williams showed that with the hiring of Lewis Preston as the head men’s basketball coach in April, 2011. Preston made his head-coaching debut in November after honing his craft as an assistant coach at Penn State, Florida, Notre Dame and Coastal Carolina. His time at Florida, including being on the coaching staff, helped to guide the Gators to the 2007 NCAA national championship. 

After successfully completing the four-year re-classification period in June of 2009, the Owls status as a full-fledged, championship-eligible Division I program moved to national prominence when 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 Women’s Soccer Championship tournament.

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 former Braves star Willie Harris. In 2009, the Owls 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 also achieved a milestone that summer, qualifying for and competing in the 2009 U.S. Open in Bethpage, NY.  Jeff Karlsson of men’s golf earned Second Team All-American status in 2011, and was second in the nation in stroke average among all Division I golfers that season. Karlsson was a driving force behind the men’s golf program’s success in 2011, as he helped them to the 2011 Atlantic Sun Conference Championship, earning them a spot in the NCAA postseason, where they would advance all the way to the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship and finish 26th in the nation.

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 4,800 fans and is versatile enough to serve as a practice center for many of the Owls’ other varsity sports, as well. The Convocation Center demonstrated first-hand what a tough place it can be for an opponent to play in last November, when a raucous crowd cheered the men’s basketball team on to a convincing, 80-63, win over Georgia Tech.

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 fact that Kennesaw State athletics is a program soaring with the times.

Perhaps most exciting is the new state-of-the art, 8,300 seat KSU Stadium, located on the school’s East Campus. Opening its doors for the 2010 season, the stadium is the home of the Owls women’s soccer team as well as the Atlanta Beat of the Women’s Professional Soccer League, and is the premier facility 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. KSU had the chance to show off their new stadium to the sports world this past December, when it hosted the NCAA Women’s College Cup, the final four of women’s college soccer, which was broadcast nationally on the ESPN family of networks. The U.S. Women’s National team has also put the facility on the national stage, facing the Chinese National team.

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. 

Kennesaw State has 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.

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 by visiting our web site. They can follow the Owls on a daily basis on Twitter.