Intercollegiate athletics have been an integrated part of the Hill since the Baseball team first competed in 1910. Baseball was quickly followed by Football, Basketball (Men’s and Women’s), and Track and Field in the pre-World War I years. Today, the athletic department boasts 20 sports with some 440 student-athletes.
Men's Programs: Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Football, Golf, Indoor Track & Field, Outdoor Track & Field, Soccer, Swimming & Diving, Tennis.
Women's Programs: Basketball, Cross Country, Golf, Indoor Track & Field, Outdoor Track & Field, Soccer, Softball, Swimming & Diving, Tennis, Volleyball.
Mission Statement:
The mission of WKU’s Department of Athletics is to provide a broad based athletics program which emphasizes the academic
and personal development of the student-athletes while upholding the principles of good sportsmanship and ethical conduct as defined by the NCAA, conference affiliations, and the University.
Fair and equitable opportunities will be a priority and will be provided for student-athletes and staff to participate in intercollegiate athletics at the Division I level regardless of gender and ethnicity. The sports programs of the Department of Athletics will be competitive regionally and nationally while serving the University’s constituents through entertainment and public service.
Statement of Purpose:
To strive for team work within the Department in order to maximize the academic, athletic, and individual potential of all student-athletes and to provide a quality athletic experience for all of our constituents.
Athletic Values:
Academic Excellence; Dignity and Respect; Athletic Excellence; Diversity; Communications; Leadership; Continuous Improvement; Teamwork; Customer Service; Trust and Integrity
Athletic Goals:
Goal 1: Compliance: “Play By the Rules”
Goal 2: Win Vic Bubas Cup
Goal 3: Academic Success: Graduate Student-Athletes
Goal 4: Revenue Enhancement: Balanced Budget
Goal 5: Transition to I-A With Success
Athletic Achievements Include:
- In 2002, WKU earned its first national title, winning the NCAA I-AA Football National Championship.
- WKU student-athletes have helped athletics win the Vic Bubas Cup, presented to the best all-around program in the Sun Belt Conference, three times in the last six years including in 2005-06, when the Toppers’ seven league titles matched the most ever recorded by a school.
- WKU teams have won 39 Sun Belt Conference championships (regular season and/or tournament) in the last eight years in Men’s and Women’s Basketball, Volleyball, Baseball, Men’s and Women’s Cross Country, Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving, Men’s Golf, Women’s Indoor Track, and Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track.
- Thirteen of the school’s 20 programs have either participated in or sent individual competitors to NCAA events in the last six years, including Football, Men’s and Women’s Basketball, Volleyball, Baseball, Men’s and Women’s Cross Country, Men’s golf, and Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track.
- The Football program enters its transition to the NCAA Division I-A level having recorded 11 straight winning seasons, the second-longest streak in school history.
- Men’s Basketball has posted three consecutive 20-win seasons and participated in postseason play in two of those years. Overall, the program has made 19 NCAA Tournament appearances, reaching the Sweet 16 in 1993 and advancing to the Final Four in 1971, and it has played in the National Invitation Tournament on 13 occasions.
- The Lady Toppers have reached national postseason play in each of the last eight seasons as well as 23 of the last 24 years. The women have advanced to the Final Four on three occasions, including reaching the national championship game in 1992.
- The Volleyball program has won the Sun Belt Conference East Division championship in each of the last seven years, advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first two times in school history in 2002 and 2005.
- WKU became the first school ever to win the Cross country, Indoor, and Outdoor Track championships in the same school year when the women accomplished the feat in 2006-07.
- WKU won the first five Sun Belt Conference Women’s Swimming championships and has claimed the Men’s title in each of the league’s first three years sponsoring the sport.
Athletics Facilities:
All team sports at WKU are competing in brand new, recently renovated, or soon-to-be constructed or renovated facilities. In 2003, the Hilltoppers opened the season in the newly renovated, $35 million E.A. Diddle Arena. The renovated arena contains 16 luxury suites; a new playing floor; all-new seating, concession, and restroom areas; elevator access to all levels; new sound and lighting systems; two new auxiliary gymnasiums; new training and weight rooms; air conditioning; and new locker and office space complex facilities for multiple sports and athletic administration. E.A. Diddle Arena is home to Hilltopper Basketball, Lady Topper Basketball, and Lady Topper Volleyball.
Included on that list is the recently completed $35 million renovation of E.A. Diddle Arena, home of Hilltopper Basketball, Lady Topper Basketball, and Lady Topper Volleyball. A $37 million project to renovate and enlarge L.S. Smith Stadium is currently underway to accommodate the Hilltoppers’ move to Division I FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) and to build a new facility for Hilltopper and Lady Topper Track.
In addition, WKU has completed a $2.2 million investment in Baseball with Nick Denes Field enhancements and renovations, which include an indoor batting cage, renovated dugouts, regarded outfield, new brick outfield wall, scoreboard, press box, concessions, restrooms, and seating expansions. To complement these improvements, WKU plans to construct a $1 million Baseball clubhouse.
Campaign Priorities:
In support of the mission and vision of WKU Athletics, the following goals have been identified as priority areas for the New Century of Spirit Campaign.
Raise Support for the Renovation of L.T. Smith Stadium
WKU is committed to a $38 million improvement and expansion of L.T. Smith Stadium, which will offer an on-campus football stadium and intercollegiate athletic performance center that will be among the nation’s finest facilities.
Athletic recruits at all levels “buy with their eyes.” In order to compete at the highest level of intercollegiate athletics, the I-A level, WKU’s athletic facilities must rival, if not surpass, those of our competitors. Typically, the latest is the greatest when it comes to athletic construction projects. The improvement and expansion of Smith Stadium will give all 20 WKU intercollegiate athletic programs and 440 student-athletes an academic and athletic competitive edge. One of the most critical elements of the stadium project is the gutting and rebuilding of the interior core of the existing stadium. The entire interior will be devoted exclusively to academic purposes. Computer labs, study halls, and faculty space will serve all student-athletes. The already superior academic performance of our student-athletes will be further strengthened in this academic portion of the stadium project.
Our fans will also benefit enormously from the amenities that go hand-in-hand with providing a first-class game-day experience. A large videoboard, state-of-the-art sound system, new lighting, luxurious stadium club, expanded concessions and restrooms, comfortable seating and wider aisles will all contribute to make Smith Stadium a wonderful game day destination. The renovation of L.T. Smith Stadium truly represents the future of intercollegiate athletics at WKU. In appreciation for gifts in support of the renovation, naming opportunities are available for aspects of the stadium.
Endow Athletic Scholarships
University Athletics are a rallying point for people of all ages and backgrounds. When a school’s athletics program flourishes, a sense of pride and unity is created and the powerful effects are immeasurable. WKU is reaching new levels of excellence, but in the competitive world of intercollegiate athletics it is difficult to remain among the very best.
The first step toward positively positioning our athletics program for sustained national success is to build our athletics endowment to support scholarships for Hilltopper student-athletes. To provide an enhanced educational experience for its students, WKU’s ultimate goal is to fully fund each of its athletics programs, including the endowment of all athletic scholarships. WKU’s student-athletes are expected to commit themselves to the same high standards of performance in the classroom as in sporting events. Nothing aids recruiting more than being able to offer a full scholarship to attend WKU.
Raise Enhancement Funds to Support all Athletic Programs
With rising costs to recruit, travel, educate, and compete on a national level, institutional allocations per program are quickly and easily exhausted. The margin for excellence with many programs is provided annually via private support for specific programs. These unrestricted funds provide opportunities such as:
- Academic summer school and fifth-year aid
- Academic support and tutoring
- National and international recruiting
- General travel funds
- Foreign trip opportunities
- Increased operating budget
- Equipment needs
Raise Support for the Construction of the Baseball Clubhouse Project
This $1 million project will complete the total transformation of WKU’s Baseball complex into one of America’s finest on-campus baseball facilities. The Sun Belt Conference is annually rated as one the top 7 college baseball conferences in America (out of 31 Division I leagues). In order to compete at the top of one of the most difficult conferences in the country, a school’s facilities must be among the nation’s finest.
The clubhouse project will allow for all WKU Baseball coaches, student-athletes, trainers, and program support personnel to be housed literally on site at the baseball complex. The clubhouse will feature a spacious locker room, player lounge, coaches’ offices, laundry area, and storage areas. By turning this stadium into a showcase facility, WKU will not only increase its power of recruitment, it will attract camps, clinics, and other special opportunities to grow and develop local Baseball talent, which will aid in future athletic scholarships and/or potential professional contract opportunities for local and regional players