The Evansville Purple Aces are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of the University of Evansville, located in Evansville, Indiana. The Aces athletic program is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference and competes at the NCAA's Division I level. Evansville's mascot is Ace Purple, and the school colors are purple, white and orange.
Evansville, Indiana is the home to two minor league professional sports teams and one amateur sports team. The city is also the home to two NCAA collegiate teams, and nine high schools that participate in the Indiana High School Athletic Association. Evansville is also the host to the annual Hoosier Nationals and Demolition City Roller Derby.
The Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team represents the Purple Aces of the University of Evansville, located in Evansville, Indiana, in NCAA Division I basketball competition. They play their home games at the Ford Center. Evansville's athletics teams were originally known as the Pioneers in the early part of the 1900s. In the 1920s, the name Aces arose after a local sports writer wrote in a game story of the men's basketball team, "They played like Aces." The team has been known as the Aces and/or Purple Aces ever since. Evansville has won five Division II national championships.
Marcus Dwayne Wilson is a retired professional basketball player, who played his career in Europe, South America and the United States. Since retiring from professional basketball, he has gone on to be a college basketball coach, public speaker and philanthropic non profit business leader.
The Evansville Purple Aces baseball team represents the University of Evansville, which is located in Evansville, Indiana. The Purple Aces are an NCAA Division I college baseball program that competes in the Missouri Valley Conference. They began competing in Division I in 1978 and joined the Missouri Valley Conference in the 1995 season. The Evansville Purple Aces play all home games on campus at Charles H. Braun Stadium.
The Evansville Purple Aces men's soccer team represents the University of Evansville in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) of NCAA Division I soccer. The Purple Aces play their home matches on Black Beauty Field at Arad McCutchan Stadium on the north end of the university's campus in Evansville, Indiana. The team is currently coached by Marshall Ray.
The 2014–15 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team represented the University of Evansville during the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Aces, led by eighth year head coach Marty Simmons, played their home games at the Ford Center and were members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 24–12, 9–9 in MVC play to finish in fifth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley tournament to Illinois State. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they defeated IPFW, Eastern Illinois, Louisiana–Lafayette, UT Martin, and Northern Arizona to become CIT champions.
The 2015–16 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team represented the University of Evansville during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Aces, led by ninth year head coach Marty Simmons, played their home games at the Ford Center and were members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 25–9, 12–6 in Missouri Valley play to finish in a tie for second place. They defeated Missouri State and Indiana State in the Missouri Valley tournament to advance to the championship game where they lost to Northern Iowa. Despite having 25 wins, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.
The 2015–16 Evansville Purple Aces women's basketball team represents the University of Evansville during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Aces, led by fifth year head coach Oties Epps, play their home games at the Ford Center and are members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 3–28, 1–17 in MVC play to finish in last place. They advanced to the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley women's tournament where they lost to Drake.
The 2016–17 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team represented the University of Evansville during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Aces, led by 10th-year head coach Marty Simmons, played their home games at the Ford Center as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 16–17, 6–12 to finish in eighth place in MVC play. They defeated Indiana State in the MVC tournament before losing to Illinois State in the quarterfinals.
The 2016–17 Evansville Purple Aces women's basketball team represented the University of Evansville during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Purple Aces, led by interim head coach Matt Ruffing, played their home games at the Ford Center and are members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 14–17, 8–10 in MVC play to finish in sixth place. They advanced to the semifinals of the Missouri Valley women's tournament where they lost to Northern Iowa.
The 2017–18 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team represented the University of Evansville during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Aces, led by 11th-year head coach Marty Simmons, played their home games at the Ford Center as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 17–15, 7–11 in MVC play to finish in a three-way tie for seventh place. As the No. 8 seed in the MVC tournament, they lost to Northern Iowa in the first round.
The 2017–18 Evansville Purple Aces women's basketball team represents the University of Evansville during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Purple Aces, led by second year head coach Matt Ruffing, play their home games at Meeks Family Fieldhouse and were members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 3–27, 0–18 in MVC play to finish in last place. They lost in the first round of the Missouri Valley women's tournament to Bradley.
The 2018–19 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team represented the University of Evansville during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Aces, led by first-year head coach Walter McCarty, played their home games at the Ford Center as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 11–21 overall, 5–13 in MVC play, and finishing in last place. As the No. 10 seed in the MVC tournament, they lost to Illinois State in the first round.
The 2018–19 Evansville Purple Aces women's basketball team represents the University of Evansville during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Purple Aces, led by third year head coach Matt Ruffing, play their home games at Meeks Family Fieldhouse and were members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 4–26, 2–16 in MVC play to finish in last place. They lost in the first round of the Missouri Valley women's tournament to Loyola–Chicago.
The 2021–22 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team represented the University of Evansville in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Aces were led by head coach Todd Lickliter in his second full season at Evansville and played their home games at the Ford Center as members of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). They finished the season 6–24, 2–16 in MVC play to finish in last place. They lost to Valparaiso in the first round of the MVC tournament.
The 2022–23 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team represented the University of Evansville in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Aces, led by first-year head coach David Ragland, played their home games at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 5–27, 1–19 in MVC play to finish in last place. They lost to Indiana State in the first round of the MVC tournament.
The 2010–11 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team represented the University of Evansville in the 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Aces, led by head coach Marty Simmons, played their home games at Roberts Municipal Stadium in Evansville, Indiana, as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. The Purple Aces finished sixth in the Missouri Valley during the regular season, and were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley tournament by eventual tournament champion Indiana State.
The 1998–99 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team represented the University of Evansville in the 1998–99 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Their head coach was Jim Crews and they played their home games at Roberts Municipal Stadium as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. After finishing alone atop the MVC regular season standings, the Purple Aces lost in the championship game of the MVC tournament. The Aces received an at-large bid to the 1999 NCAA tournament. They were defeated by No. 6 seed Kansas in the opening round and finished 23–10.
The 2023–24 Evansville Purple Aces women's basketball team represents the University of Evansville during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Purple Aces, led by third-year head coach Robyn Scherr-Wells, play their home games at Meeks Family Fieldhouse in Evansville, Indiana as members of the Missouri Valley Conference.
