Marshall Thundering Herd

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Marshall Thundering Herd
Marshall Thundering Herd logo.svg
University Marshall University
Conference Sun Belt Conference
NCAA Division I (FBS)
Athletic director Christian Spears
Location Huntington, West Virginia
Varsity teams18
Football stadium Joan C. Edwards Stadium
Basketball arena Cam Henderson Center
Baseball stadium Jack Cook Field [1]
Softball stadium Dot Hicks Field
Soccer stadium Veterans Memorial Soccer Complex
Other venuesFrederick A. Fitch Natatorium
Brian David Fox Tennis Center
Guyan Golf & Country Club
Mascot Marco the Bison
NicknameThundering Herd
Fight song"Sons of Marshall"
Cheer"We Are... Marshall"
ColorsKelly green and white [2]
   
Website herdzone.com
Marshall thundering herd wordmark 2015.png

The Marshall Thundering Herd is the intercollegiate athletic collection of teams that collectively represent the Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Thundering Herd athletic teams compete in the Sun Belt Conference, which are members of the NCAA Division I. [3] The school's official colors are kelly green and white. [4] The Marshall Thundering Herd have won 3 NCAA national championships and one NAIA national championship.

Contents

Sports sponsored

Men's sportsWomen's sports
Baseball Basketball
Basketball Cross country
Cross countryGolf
Football Soccer
Golf Softball
Soccer Swimming and diving
Track and field1Tennis
Track and field1
Volleyball
1 – includes both indoor and outdoor

Baseball

Early Marshall baseball teams played on what is now Buskirk Field on campus, but had long since been handicapped by a lack of on-campus facilities and no permanent home field. [5] A new on-Campus facility, Jack Cook Field, [6] opened for the 2024 season. [7]

Basketball

Men's basketball

Marshall men's basketball gained notoriety under Cam Henderson, inventor of the fast break and the 2-3 zone defense who coached the team from 1935 to 1955. As head coach of the Herd men's basketball team, Henderson compiled a record of 362-159 and won the 1947 NAIA National Championship. His Marshall teams produced 2 All-Americans, Jule Rivlin and Andy Tonkovich - the latter was selected as the #1 overall pick in the 1948 NBA draft. Henderson also recruited the first African-American to play at the formerly all-white colleges of West Virginia when he signed Hal Greer in 1954. His 1947 championship basketball team spurred the move into the Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse, a 6,500-seat arena that was Marshall's basketball home from 1950 to 1980. The Fieldhouse was replaced in 1981 with the Cam Henderson Center named in his honor.

Women's basketball

  • Head Coach: Juli Fulks
  • Arena: Cam Henderson Center
  • Conference Championships: 9 - (Regular season: 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 2024; Tournament: 1976, 1997, 2024)
  • NCAA tournament Appearances: 2 (1997, 2024)
  • Postseason Invitational Tournament Appearances: 4 (1971, [8] 2015, 2016, 2019)
  • All-Americans: 1
  • First Season Played: 1969

Football

Marshall (in white) v Tulane game in 2009 Football (4005474173).jpg
Marshall (in white) v Tulane game in 2009

Historically, the Herd played on Central Field through 1928, at Fairfield Stadium from 1928 until 1990, and at Joan C. Edwards Stadium since 1991.

On November 14, 1970, Southern Airways Flight 932 crashed near Kenova, West Virginia and killed all 75 passengers on board, including 37 members of the Thundering Herd football team. The plane disaster and rebuilding of the program was the subject of the documentary Marshall University: Ashes to Glory, and these events were depicted in the 2006 Warner Brothers motion picture, We Are Marshall, starring Matthew McConaughey and Matthew Fox.

Golf

Men's golf

Men's Golf

  • Head Coach: Matt Grobe
  • Home Course: Guyan Golf and Country Club
  • Conference Team Championships: 2 (1962, 1966)
  • Conference Individual Champions: 10
  • NCAA tournament Team Appearances: 5 (1955, 1957, 1962, 1976, 1993)
  • NCAA tournament Individual Appearances: 11
  • All-Americans: 1
  • Best Final Ranking: 11th (1962 NCAA Golf Championships)
  • First Season Played: 1949

Since its inception in 1968, the Marshall Invitational held at the Guyan Golf and Country Club has become one of the top collegiate golf tournaments in the Eastern United States. It had been held annually in April until being moved to September in 2010. [9] It was renamed the Joe Feaganes Marshall Invitational in 2013 in honor of the Herd's longtime coach who led the program from 1972 to 2012.

Women's golf

  • Head Coach: Brooke Burkhammer
  • Home Course: Guyan Golf and Country Club
  • AIWA Tournament Appearances: 1 (1981)
  • First Season Played: 1974–1983, restarted 2002

Marshall initially fielded a women's golf team from 1974 to 1983 and competed in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women championships. The program relaunched in 2002 competing in the NCAA.

Soccer

Men's soccer

Marshall soccer players and fans celebrating the 2023 Conference championship won Marshall Soccer SBC 2023.jpg
Marshall soccer players and fans celebrating the 2023 Conference championship won

The team plays its home games at Veterans Memorial Soccer Complex in Huntington. The Thundering Herd have made 5 straight NCAA tournament appearances 2019-2023, including winning the national championship in the 2020 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament.

Women's soccer

Softball

Tennis

Volleyball

Cross Country


Track and Field

Swimming and Diving

Traditions

Mascot

Initially, Marshall athletic teams used the nickname "Big Green" for much of its early history. [11] However, Huntington sportswriter Duke Ridgley first used the phrase "Thundering Herd" in 1925 to describe the football team. The headlines of that football season, coupled with the popularity of Zane Grey's novel at the time, "The Thundering Herd", saw the nickname stick. [12]

As early as the 1930s, buffalo mascots appearances on the sideline of Marshall sporting events. However, the mascot would remain nameless and sporadic in appearances until 1954, when the editors of the Marshall University yearbook created a buffalo character roaming through the pages and named their character "Marco", derived from the term "Marshall College" as the school was known at the time. [13] A buffalo costume was purchased for a booster club in 1965, and Marco would return to sporting events that year. In 1970, a live buffalo was introduced as Marco the mascot and was trained to perform at halftime for football games. However, after halftime during a game against Xavier in 1971, the live buffalo refused to return to its trailer and kickoff of the second half was delayed as handlers attempted to control the buffalo. The live mascot performances were discontinued afterward. [14]

School songs

Marshall school songs are typically performed by the Marshall University Marching Thunder at home sporting events.

"Sons of Marshall"

Marshall University's fight song is "Sons of Marshall", referring to the students of the institution, and was written by Marshall alum Ralph A. Williams in 1935. [15]

Alma Mater

The Marshall University Alma Mater was written in 1906 [16] by C.E. and James Haworth [17]

Championships

NCAA team championships

Marshall University has won 3 NCAA team national championships. [18]

Other national team championships

Below are national team titles in current and former NCAA sports that were not bestowed by the NCAA:

Rivalries

Marshall's biggest rivalries are out of conference with Ohio University, East Carolina University, and West Virginia University. In the Sun Belt Conference, Marshall has a budding rivalry with Appalachian State University which is a carry-over from both teams' days in the SoCon.

Facilities

Joan C. Edwards Stadium

Joan C. Edwards Stadium Striping the Joan C. Edwards Stadium.jpg
Joan C. Edwards Stadium

Marshall plays football at Joan C. Edwards Stadium, which seats 38,019. The stadium, which opened for the 1991 season as Marshall University Stadium with a then-record crowd of 33,116 for a 24–23 win over New Hampshire, hosted a record crowd of 41,382 on September 10, 2010, when the Thundering Herd played the in-state rival West Virginia Mountaineers. On a façade on the stadium's west side is a bronze memorial dedicated to the 1970 plane-crash victims.

In 2003, Marshall renamed its stadium, honoring a major donor, Joan C. Edwards to the university and its athletic program. The facility became the first football stadium in Division I-A to be named after a woman; Mrs. Edwards' husband, James F. Edwards, has his name on the actual playing field.

Cam Henderson Center

Cam Henderson Center Cam Henderson Center 2019.jpg
Cam Henderson Center

Men's basketball, women's basketball, and volleyball teams play their home games at the 9,048-seat Cam Henderson Center, named for the innovative Cam Henderson who guided the school's basketball team from 1935 to 1955 and football from 1935 to 1949. Henderson won 358 games against just 158 losses as a basketball coach. The facility opened in 1981 and saw a major renovation in 1998. The Henderson Center is a 213,000 square-foot facility which houses much of Marshall University's athletic department staff offices, the ticket office, an 800-seat natatorium, a state of the art training room, a basketball-specific weight room, and spacious locker rooms. [19] The single game attendance record at the Cam Henderson Center was set on February 18, 1984, against The Citadel when 10,705 fans witnessed the 85-71 Marshall victory.

Veterans Memorial Soccer Complex

Veterans Memorial Soccer Complex Veterans Memorial Soccer Stadium 2019.jpg
Veterans Memorial Soccer Complex

Hoops Family Field at Veterans Memorial Soccer Complex is a 1,006-capacity soccer-specific stadium and is home to the Herd's men's and women's soccer teams. It was built on the former site of the Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse, which was demolished in order to build the stadium at a cost of $8 million. An inaugural double-header took place on August 23, 2013. The men's team held a scrimmage against Marshall alumni from past years resulting in a 2–0 victory. The women's team faced the Campbell University Fighting Camels and won 3–0. [20] The largest crowd in the stadium's history occurred on September 17, 2021, when 3,033 witnessed Marshall and West Virginia draw, 2–2.

Jack Cook Field

Jack Cook Field is a 3,500 seat baseball stadium that is home to the Marshall Thundering Herd baseball team, as well as the Appalachian League member Tri-State Coal Cats. The facility opened on March 1, 2024 when the Thundering Herd defeated Manhattan, 3-0, in front of an inaugural game crowd of 3,124. The $23 million facility is named in memory of former Marshall baseball coach Jack Cook, and the clubhouse beyond left field is named in honor of former Marshall baseball player Alex Lawrence. [21]

Dot Hicks Field

Dot Hicks Field Dot Hicks Field 2020.jpg
Dot Hicks Field

The Marshall softball team has played its games at Dot Hicks Field since the facility opened in 2008. The $2.5 million facility features a clubhouse, grandstands, pressbox and concession building, warmup areas, and the playing field. [22] The field is named after Dorothy "Dot" Hicks, a pioneer of the women's sports program at Marshall University who led the school's female student-athletics from a time of intramural activities into the era of organized intercollegiate competition. At various times, she served as coach of Marshall's volleyball, badminton, women's tennis and women's golf teams. [23]

Guyan Golf and Country Club

The Guyan Golf and Country Club has served as the home course for Marshall's golf teams since the late 1940s. The Huntington course is 6,446 yards and a par-71. It has also served as the site of numerous tournaments throughout the years including the Marshall Invitational and Lady Herd Fall Classic. The golf pro of the course is Paul Bailey, a former Marshall University golfer. [24]

Chris Cline Indoor Athletic Facility

Chris Cline Athletic Complex Chris Cline Athletic Complex 2021.jpg
Chris Cline Athletic Complex

In 2012, Marshall University announced a multi-facility expansion project known as the Herd Vision campaign. The university accepted ownership of the Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse located five blocks from campus, which was demolished and replaced by the Veterans Memorial Soccer Complex, a soccer specific stadium that opened in August 2013. MU's former soccer facility next to Joan C. Edwards Stadium, Sam Hood Field, was replaced by the Chris Cline Indoor Athletic Facility, a $25 million project which included an indoor football practice facility, an indoor track, the Marshall University Athletic Hall of Fame, and a physical therapy research center, known as the Marshall Sports Medicine Institute, available for both student-athletes and anyone from inside or outside of MU who needs help with sports medicine or work related rehab or training. The Chris Cline Indoor Athletic Facility opened in September 2014. MU legends Chad Pennington, a former NFL quarterback with the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins, and the current head coach of the Houston Rockets of the NBA, Mike D'Antoni headed up fund raising for the effort for Marshall Director of Athletics Mike Hamrick.

Herd Rises

In October 2019, Marshall announced a $150 million fundraising initiative. The Herd Rises campaign aims to raise money for Marshall with the primary goal of building an on-campus baseball stadium at the site of the old Flint Group Pigments industrial property on 5th Avenue. Other goals of the campaign include improvements to Gullickson Hall, erecting a statue of legendary Marshall basketball player Hal Greer outside of the Cam Henderson Center, and additional funds towards student-athlete scholarships.

See also

Notes

  1. Due to COVID-19, the NCAA moved its Division I championships in fall sports, including men's soccer, from fall 2020 to spring 2021. It labeled the tournament as the "2020" edition, but the season as the "2020–21" season.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball</span> Basketball team of Marshall University

The Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball team represents Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, United States. They compete in the NCAA Division I as a member of the Sun Belt Conference. The Thundering Herd are led by head coach Cornelius Jackson and play their home games at the on-campus Cam Henderson Center which opened in 1981.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016–17 Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2016–17 Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball team represented Marshall University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Thundering Herd, led by third-year head coach Dan D'Antoni, played their home games at the Cam Henderson Center and were members of Conference USA. They finished the season 20–15, 10–8 in C-USA play to finish in sixth place. They defeated Florida Atlantic, Old Dominion, and Louisiana Tech to advance to the championship game of the C-USA tournament. There they lost to top-seeded Middle Tennessee. Despite finishing with 20 wins, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017–18 Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2017–18 Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball team represented the Marshall University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Thundering Herd, led by fourth-year head coach Dan D'Antoni, played their home games at the Cam Henderson Center as members of Conference USA. They finished the season 25–11, 12–6 in C-USA play to finish in fourth place. They defeated UTSA, Southern Miss, and Western Kentucky to become champions of the C-USA tournament. They received C-USA's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where, as a No. 13 seed, they upset Wichita State in the first round before losing to West Virginia in the second round.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019–20 Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2019–20 Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball team represented Marshall University during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Thundering Herd, led by sixth-year head coach Dan D'Antoni, played their home games at the Cam Henderson Center as members of Conference USA. They finished the season 17–15, 10–8 in C-USA play to finish in sixth place. They defeated UTEP and were scheduled to play Louisiana Tech in the quarterfinals of the C-USA tournament. However, the tournament canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020–21 Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2020–21 Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball team represented Marshall University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Thundering Herd, led by seventh-year head coach Dan D'Antoni, played their home games at the Cam Henderson Center as members of the East Division of Conference USA. They finished the season 15–7, 9–5 in C-USA play to finish in third place in the East Division. They were defeated in the second round of the C-USA tournament by Rice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021–22 Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2021–22 Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball team represented Marshall University during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Thundering Herd, led by eighth-year head coach Dan D'Antoni, played their home games at the Cam Henderson Center as members of Conference USA. They finished the season 12–21, 4–14 in C-USA play to finish in seventh place in the East Division. They defeated FIU before losing to Louisiana Tech in the second round of the C-USA tournament.

The 1987–88 Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball team represented Marshall University during the 1987–88 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Thundering Herd, led by fifth-year head coach Rick Huckabay, played their home games at the Cam Henderson Center as members of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 24–8, 14–2 in SoCon play to finish in first place. In the SoCon tournament, they were defeated by Chattanooga in the semifinals. As a regular season conference champion who failed to win their conference tournament, the Thundering Herd received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament, where they lost in the first round to VCU.

References

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  21. Marshall to name baseball facility after Jack Cook
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