Athletics
WSU is an NCAA Division I institution and fields teams in tennis, cross-country, basketball, track, golf, men's baseball and women's volleyball and softball. Also, it offers club sports such as crew, bowling and intramural sports. The men's baseball team is college baseball's highest winning team for the past 31 years, with numerous conference championships and NCAA tournament appearances. The baseball team won the national championship in 1989 and was runner-up in 1982, 1991 and 1993. They play at Eck Stadium. The men's basketball team reached the Final Four in 1965, the Elite Eight in 1981 and the Sweet Sixteen in 2006. The men's basketball team won the 2011 National Invitation Tournament Championship, beating the Alabama Crimson Tide. The men’s and women’s bowling teams have won numerous USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships, including the men’s 2003, 2008, 2009 and 2010 title and the women's 2005, 2007 and 2009 title.
The school discontinued its football program following the 1986 season due to poor attendance, financial red ink, NCAA recruiting violations, and the state of disrepair of Cessna Stadium. Legendary NFL coach Bill Parcells was a linebacker at WSU in 1962 and 1963 before serving as a graduate assistant in 1964. Wichita State University was also the first Division 1-A school to hire a black head coach in College Football, Willie Jeffries in 1979.
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