Grambling State Tigers Explained

Grambling State Tigers
University:Grambling State University
Conference:SWAC
Division:Division I (FCS)
Association:NCAA
Director:David Ponton
Location:Grambling, Louisiana
Stadium:Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium
Basketballarena:Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center
Softballstadium:GSU Softball Complex
Soccerstadium:GSU Soccer Complex
Arena2:Memorial Gymnasium
Mascot:Tiger
Nickname:Tigers
Pageurl:http://www.gsutigers.com/

The Grambling State Tigers and Lady Tigers represent Grambling State University in NCAA intercollegiate athletics. Grambling's sports teams participate in Division I (I-FCS for football) as a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).

Sports sponsored

Basketball
Bowling
Cross country Cross country
Soccer
Track and field Softball
Tennis
Track and field
Volleyball

Baseball

See main article: article and Grambling State Tigers baseball.

Notable players

Men's basketball

See main article: article and Grambling State Tigers men's basketball.

The Grambling State Tigers won the NAIA National championship tournament in 1961, beating Georgetown College (Ky.). The victory made Grambling State the first and only college basketball program in the state to win a national basketball championship. In the following years, the Tigers made it to the NAIA Final Four, and placed 3rd in 1963, and 1966, defeating Fort Hays State (Kan.) and Norfolk State (Va.) respectively. The Tigers appeared in the NAIA National Tournament eight times from 1959 to 1971, with a total NAIA National Tournament record of 19–7. Former NBA star Charles Hardnett played for the National Championship Tiger team. The team reached their first NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in 2024 after winning the SWAC Tournament Championship. [1] In 2013, the Tigers went 0–28, with only one single-digit loss (an 8-point loss to Alabama A&M in the SWAC tournament). Grambling State's most popular and highest attended regular season basketball rivalries are against the Southern Jaguars and Prairie View A&M Panthers.

Women's basketball

See main article: article and Grambling State Tigers women's basketball.

Football

See main article: article and Grambling State Tigers football.

Grambling State plays its arch rival Southern University in the annual Bayou Classic, which is hosted at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana over Thanksgiving weekend and broadcast nationally on NBCSN.

GSU also plays in the annual State Fair Classic against the Prairie View A&M Panthers at the Cotton Bowl, in Fair Park, in Dallas, Texas.

Former football coach Eddie Robinson previously held the NCAA record for most career wins as a head coach at an NCAA division I school.[2]

During Robinson's 55-year coaching career, the university gained a national reputation because of the large number of athletes who joined the professional ranks in football.

After Robinson's retirement in 1997, former GSU standout and NFL Super Bowl XXII MVP Doug Williams took over the reins of the university's football program.

Grambling has won fourteen black college national championships, tied for second most in the country (Robinson's teams won nine of those championships).

The 1981 TV movie Grambling's White Tiger set in 1967, tells the true story of Jim Gregory, the first white Quarterback at Grambling.

In October 2013, citing health hazards within the Grambling State athletic facilities and team mismanagement in a letter to the administration, the Grambling State football team refused to play their October 19 game against Jackson St., forfeiting the match up, resulting in a loss.[3] The NCAA would later go on to announce the ruling on the game was officially declared a no contest.[4] The Tigers would return for their very next game a week later against Texas Southern.[5]

In 2017, Grambling State completed a few million dollars worth of renovations to the field and scoreboard.[6]

Notable players

Pro Football Hall of Fame members

Traditions

Grambling State's colors are black and gold, with red as a tertiary color symbolizing the blood of people of African descent. The school's mascot is the Tiger. Grambling State's male athletes are traditionally referred to as "G-Men".[7]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ticket Punched: Grambling State Wins SWAC Men’s Basketball Tournament for First Time in School History . Southwestern Athletic Conference . 12 November 2023 . 20 March 2024.
  2. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/ct-spt-0724-penn-state--20120724,0,6965116.story Penn State penalties: $60 million fine, 4-year bowl ban
  3. Web site: The inside story of what caused Grambling football players to revolt. October 19, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131019122714/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20131018/grambling-football/ . October 19, 2013 .
  4. Web site: Sean Isabella, USA TODAY Sports . NCAA decides Grambling-Jackson State game is a 'no contest' . Usatoday.com . October 30, 2013 . August 11, 2015.
  5. Web site: Grambling State returns to field with loss. . November 1, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131103163201/http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/sns-tsn-agn-tsouthern-grambling-20131026%2C0%2C2715862.story . November 3, 2013 .
  6. https://www.gram.edu/news/index.php/2017/05/04/gsu-announces-major-stadium-improvements/ GSU announces major stadium improvements
  7. Web site: Grambling State Athletics - G-Men Season Comes to an End in Heartbreaking Loss . Gsutigers.com . March 14, 2010 . August 11, 2015.