Saint Louis Billikens
Encyclopedia
The Saint Louis Billikens are the collegiate athletic teams from Saint Louis University
Saint Louis University
Saint Louis University is a private, co-educational Jesuit university located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by the Most Reverend Louis Guillaume Valentin Dubourg SLU is the oldest university west of the Mississippi River. It is one of 28 member institutions of the...

. This NCAA Division I program has teams in soccer, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

, softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...

, volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...

, swimming and diving, cross country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...

, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

, track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

, and field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...

. They compete in the Atlantic Ten Conference
Atlantic Ten Conference
The Atlantic 10 Conference is a college athletic conference which operates mostly on the United States' eastern seaboard. It also has two member schools in Ohio: Dayton and Xavier, located in Dayton and Cincinnati, respectively. Another member, Saint Louis is located in St. Louis, Missouri...

 (where they are the westernmost member, and both the first member located west of the Mississippi and in the Central Time Zone). The school has nationally recognized soccer programs for men and women. The school has heavily invested in its on-campus athletic facilities in the past twenty years with the creation of Hermann Stadium
Hermann Stadium
Hermann Stadium, or fully, Robert R. Hermann Stadium is located in Midtown St. Louis, Missouri, on the campus of Saint Louis University. The first game played was August 21, 1999. This is where the both the Billiken men's and women's soccer teams play. Also, several other events take place here,...

 and Chaifetz Arena. Chris May is the current director of athletics.

An early SLU football coach, John R. Bender
John R. Bender
John R. "Chief" Bender was an American football player and coach of football, basketball and baseball. He served as the head football coach at Washington State University , Haskell Indian Nations University , Kansas State University , and the University of Tennessee , compiling a career record of...

, is said to have been the inspiration for the nickname "Billikens," which is still used by the school's athletic teams. During the 1911 season, according to one version of the story, local sportswriters commented that Bender bore an uncanny resemblance to a charm doll called a Billiken
Billiken
The Billiken was a charm doll created by an American art teacher and illustrator, Florence Pretz of St. Louis, Missouri, who is said to have seen the mysterious figure in a dream. In 1908, she patented the Billiken, who was elf-like with pointed ears, a mischievous smile and a tuft of hair on his...

, which was a national fad at the time. His squad became known as "Bender's Billikens" and the name stuck.

National Championships

  • Men's Soccer: 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1967(co-champion), 1969, 1970, 1972,& 1973

Fight song

Saint Louis University Fight Song

Root, Root, Root, for S-L-U

We are out to win the game

We always fight for the white and blue

Now let's cheer ‘er valiant name

Saint Louis U! Saint Louis U! (chant)

Go Bills! Go Bills! Go Bills Go! (chant)

Conferences

SLU has had six conference affiliations since 1937. SLU has been affiliated with the Missouri Valley Conference
Missouri Valley Conference
The Missouri Valley Conference is a college athletic conference whose members are located in the midwestern United States...

 (1937–1974); the defunct Metro Conference
Metro Conference
The Metropolitan Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, popularly known as the Metro Conference, was an NCAA Division I athletics conference, so named because all of its charter members were in urban metropolitan areas in, or at least on the fringes of, the Southern United States...

 (1975–1982); the Midwestern Collegiate Conference, now known as the Horizon League
Horizon League
The Horizon League is a ten school, NCAA Division I college athletic conference whose members are located in five of the Midwestern United States....

 (1982–1991); the defunct Great Midwest Conference
Great Midwest Conference
The Great Midwest Conference was an NCAA Division I athletics conference which existed from 1991 to 1995.It was formed in 1990 with six members--Cincinnati and Memphis State from the Metro Conference; UAB from the Sun Belt Conference; Marquette and Saint Louis from the Midwestern Collegiate...

 (1991–1995) and Conference USA
Conference USA
Conference USA, officially abbreviated C-USA, is a college athletic conference whose member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports...

 (which was created by a merger between the Metro and Great Midwest Conferences). SLU joined the Atlantic Ten Conference
Atlantic Ten Conference
The Atlantic 10 Conference is a college athletic conference which operates mostly on the United States' eastern seaboard. It also has two member schools in Ohio: Dayton and Xavier, located in Dayton and Cincinnati, respectively. Another member, Saint Louis is located in St. Louis, Missouri...

 in 2005.

Soccer

The men's soccer team
Saint Louis Billikens men's soccer
The Saint Louis Billikens men's soccer team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of Saint Louis University. The Billikens compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I...

 has won 10 national titles (1959–60, 1962–63, 1965, 1967, 1969–70, 1972–73), the most in NCAA Men's Soccer Championship
NCAA Men's Soccer Championship
The NCAA began conducting a Men's Division I Soccer Championship tournament in 1959 with an eight-team tournament. Currently, the tournament field consists of 48 teams...

 history. SLU also holds the record for most NCAA Tournament appearances with 44. Several Billikens have gone on to play professionally, including Shane Battelle
Shane Battelle
Shane Battelle is a retired U.S. soccer defender who played with the Columbus Crew in Major League Soccer.-College:...

, Brad Davis
Brad Davis (soccer)
Brad Davis is an American footballer who currently plays for Houston Dynamo in Major League Soccer.-Youth and College:...

, Vedad Ibišević
Vedad Ibiševic
Vedad Ibišević is a Bosnian footballer playing as striker for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in the German Bundesliga and the Bosnian national team. He has also played in Switzerland, the USA and France...

, Brian McBride
Brian McBride
Brian Robert McBride is a retired American soccer player who finished his career for Chicago Fire in Major League Soccer , but spent the majority of his time in MLS playing for the Columbus Crew. For much of his career he played in Europe, notably for Fulham in the English Premier League...

, Matt McKeon
Matt McKeon
Matthew John McKeon is a retired American soccer midfielder who played seven seasons in Major League Soccer. He earned two caps with the United States men's national soccer team and was a member of the 1996 U.S...

, Al Trost
Al Trost
Alan Trost is a retired U.S. soccer midfielder. He played collegiate soccer at Saint Louis University where he won the 1969 and 1970 Hermann Trophy as the player of the year. His professional career includes years in both the North American Soccer League and Major Indoor Soccer League . He...

, Dipsy Selolwane
Dipsy Selolwane
Diphetogo "Dipsy" Selolwane is a Botswana football midfielder for South African Premier Soccer League club Supersport United. He has played as a striker in Major League Soccer....

, Mike Sorber, Joe Clarke
Joe Clarke
Joe “Joey” Clarke is a former U.S. soccer defender who currently coaches collegiate soccer at Washington University in St. Louis. Clarke spent six seasons in the North American Soccer League and one in the Major Indoor Soccer League. He has coached men’s collegiate soccer since 1981.-Youth and...

, Bob Madison, Martin Hutton
Martin Hutton
Martin Hutton is an American soccer player, who last played for Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer.-Youth:...

, Jack Jewsbury
Jack Jewsbury
Jack Jewsbury is an American soccer player who currently plays for Portland Timbers in Major League Soccer.-Youth and College:...

, Tim Ward
Tim Ward (soccer)
Tim Ward is a professional American soccer player who currently plays as a defender for the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer.-Youth and college:...

, Brett Branan
Brett Branan
Brett Branan is a defender who last played for American USL First Division side Minnesota Thunder. His older brother Dustin Branan also played professional soccer...

, and Will John
Will John
Will John is an American soccer player.-Early life:John played high school soccer at Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Missouri. John currently holds the Rockhurst single season scoring title with 36 goals and 20 assists...

. The soccer team plays at Hermann Stadium
Hermann Stadium
Hermann Stadium, or fully, Robert R. Hermann Stadium is located in Midtown St. Louis, Missouri, on the campus of Saint Louis University. The first game played was August 21, 1999. This is where the both the Billiken men's and women's soccer teams play. Also, several other events take place here,...

 on campus. Since February 2001, Dan Donigan
Dan Donigan
Dan Donigan is a retired United States soccer forward who played professionally in the Major Indoor Soccer League, American Professional Soccer League and National Professional Soccer League...

 has been the head coach. Legion 1818 is the official supporters group for the team.

Basketball

Simply known to some as "The Program," the Billikens were ranked first in the first AP
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

 basketball poll during the 1948–1949 season.
Ed Macauley
Ed Macauley
Charles Edward "Ed" Macauley was a professional basketball player in the NBA. His playing nickname was "Easy Ed."...

 of the Basketball Hall of Fame
Basketball Hall of Fame
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States, honors exceptional basketball players, coaches, referees, executives, and other major contributors to the game of basketball worldwide...

 and SLU won the NIT
National Invitation Tournament
The National Invitation Tournament is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. There are two NIT events each season. The first, played in November and known as the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off , was founded in 1985...

 championship in 1948
1948 National Invitation Tournament
The 1948 National Invitation Tournament was the 1948 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition.-Selected teams:Below is a list of the 8 teams selected for the tournament.-Brackets/Results:Below is the tournament bracket....

 and have played in the NIT 18 times, most recently in 2004. Larry Hughes
Larry Hughes
Larry Darnell Hughes is an American professional basketball player who most recently played for the Charlotte Bobcats. He is a and shooting guard. Hughes attended Saint Louis University and was the eight pick in the 1998 NBA Draft, selected by the Philadelphia 76ers...

 of the Chicago Bulls
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...

 played one season at SLU in the 1997–1998 season, where he was selected as the consensus national Freshman of the Year. They have made the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament in 1952
1952 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
-External links:* on Shrp Sports * , source for much of the information on this page....

, 1957
1957 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1957 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 23 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 11, 1957, and ended with the championship game on March 23 in Kansas City, Missouri...

, 1994
1994 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1994 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 17, 1994, and ended with the championship game on April 4 in Charlotte, North Carolina...

, 1995
1995 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1995 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 16, 1995, and ended with the championship game on April 3 at the Kingdome in Seattle,...

, 1998
1998 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1998 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 12, 1998, and ended with the championship game on March 30 at the Alamodome in San Antonio,...

, and 2000
2000 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 2000 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 16, 2000, and ended with the championship game on April 3 in Indianapolis, Indiana...

. The Billikens are currently coached by Rick Majerus
Rick Majerus
Rick Majerus is an American college basketball coach, and the men's basketball head coach at Saint Louis University. He coached previously at Marquette University , Ball State University , and the University of Utah .-Biography:Majerus graduated from Marquette University High School in 1966 and...

. The Program officially relocated from the Bauman-Eberhardt Center
Bauman-Eberhardt Center
Bauman-Eberhardt Center is a 2,200-seat multi-purpose arena in St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States. The arena opened in 1920.It was home to the Saint Louis University Billikens women's basketball team, who played its final season at that facility during the 2007-2008 season...

, the third oldest facility in NCAA Division I sports, to Chaifetz Arena on the eastern edge of campus for spring workouts in early April 2008.

Baseball

In 2006, the Billiken baseball team earned the program's first NCAA Tournament berth since 1966 by winning the Atlantic 10 Tournament. SLU's most successful baseball team of all time was the 1965 squad, which qualified for the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the College World Series
College World Series
The College World Series or CWS is an annual baseball tournament held in Omaha, Nebraska that is the culmination of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, which determines the NCAA Division I college baseball champion. The eight teams are split into two, four-team, double-elimination brackets,...

. Darin Hendrickson has been the current head coach since July 2007, and guided the Billikens to their fourth NCAA appearance in 2010.

Softball

The Saint Louis softball team enjoyed the best season in program history in 2010. The Billikens established a school record in wins with a 30-26-1 slate and established team records in hits, runs, doubles and home runs. As the Number 4 seed in the Atlantic 10 Championships, under the previous Coach, John Conway. Currently, the Billikens are coached by Christy Connoyer.

Volleyball

Under head coach Anne Kordes, the women's volleyball team made its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2006, the program's first post-season bid since earning a spot in the 1995 National Invitation Tournament. The Billikens returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2008 and finished the season ranked No. 8 in the RPI and No. 21 in the final Bison/AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll. Kordes led the Billikens back to the NCAA Tournament in 2009, receiving an at-large bid. The team plays its home games in the Chaifetz Pavilion on the eastern edge of campus.

Ice Hockey

SLU fields an American Collegiate Hockey Association
American Collegiate Hockey Association
The American Collegiate Hockey Association is the national governing body of non-varsity college ice hockey in the U.S. The organization provides structure, regulations, promotes the quality of play, sponsors National Awards and National Tournaments....

 (ACHA) Division II men's ice hockey team in the Mid-American Collegiate Hockey Association
Mid-American Collegiate Hockey Association
The Mid-American Collegiate Hockey Association is a ACHA club hockey league comprising colleges and universities in the Midwestern USA. The Gold Division comprises ACHA Division II club hockey programs. The Silver Division comprises smaller colleges and universities at the ACHA D-II and D-III levels...

 (MACHA). The team plays home games at the Webster Ice Arena Webster Groves, MO, but the university has plans to build the Saint Louis University Ice Pavilion
Saint Louis University Ice Pavilion
The Saint Louis University Ice Pavilion is a proposed project by Saint Louis University to build an indoor ice and sports facility to be constructed in concert with another project already in progress, the Chaifetz Arena...

 to bring the team on campus and possibly explore NCAA Hockey again. In 2011, the Billikens captured their first MACHA Gold Championship and advanced to the Central Region Qualifier before falling two games short of a National Championship birth. Also in 2011, the club was selected as the host to the 2013 ACHA Men's Division II National Championships held at the Hardee's Iceplex.
SLU once fielded a NCAA Division I hockey program that played in the CCHA
Central Collegiate Hockey Association
The Central Collegiate Hockey Association is a NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey college athletic conference that operates mostly in Michigan and Ohio, although it also has members in Alaska and Indiana. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. It holds its championship...

 from the 1970–1971 season until the program ended in 1979. The team was a strong team in the CCHA and over the nine seasons of play SLU made the championship six times. The current team began play for the 1996–1997 season as a member of ACHA Division I
American Collegiate Hockey Association
The American Collegiate Hockey Association is the national governing body of non-varsity college ice hockey in the U.S. The organization provides structure, regulations, promotes the quality of play, sponsors National Awards and National Tournaments....

.

Lacrosse

Saint Louis University Men's Lacrosse team competes in the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association
Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association
The Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association is a national organization of non-NCAA, men's college lacrosse programs. The MCLA oversees game play and conducts national championships for over 200 teams in ten conferences throughout the United States and Canada...

(MCLA) Division II and the Great Rivers Lacrosse Conference (GRLC). SLU has previously placed players on the All-American, 1st Team, 2nd Team, 3rd Team All-Conference, and the Honorable Mention Lists. The team is compiled mostly from students, who have played in elite Jesuit & Catholic high school programs across the country. Each individual brings their own unique skills, talents, and tricks. SLU Lax is known to play games commonly on the Vandy Field (on-campus), at AB Soccer Park, and other fields in the St. Louis Area. Every year SLU competes against big Missouri schools such as Lindenwood University
Lindenwood University
Lindenwood University, often referred to as Lindenwood or LU, is a private, coeducational, liberal arts university located in Saint Charles, Missouri, United States...

, Washington University
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...

, and University of Missouri
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...

 just to name a few.

Football

The university fielded an intercollegiate squad from 1899 to 1949, going undefeated in 1901, 1904 and 1906. St. Louis competed at the club-level during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Although the school no longer has a football team, they made made a lasting mark on the sport as the 1906 team, coached by Eddie Cochems
Eddie Cochems
Edward Bulwer "Eddie" Cochems was an American football player and coach. He played football for the University of Wisconsin from 1898 to 1901 and was the head football coach at North Dakota State , Clemson , Saint Louis University , and Maine . During his three years at St...

, threw the first legal forward pass
Forward pass
In several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line...

 in college football history, Bradbury Robinson
Bradbury Robinson
Bradbury Norton Robinson, Jr. was a pioneering American football player, physician, and local politician. He played college football at the University of Wisconsin in 1903 and at Saint Louis University from 1904 to 1907. In 1904, though personal connections to Wisconsin governor Robert M. La...

 to Jack Schneider on September 5, 1906 vs. Carroll College at Waukesha, Wisconsin
Waukesha, Wisconsin
Waukesha is a city in and the county seat of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, in the Upper Midwest region of the United States. The population was 70,718 at the 2010 census, making it the largest community in the county and 7th largest in the state. The city is located adjacent to the Town of Waukesha...

.

External links

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