Timeline of Athletics at NCSU
1890s
1892
The first official football game is played against Raleigh Academy, a local prep school. North Carolina A & M wins 12-6. Team colors are pink and blue.
1894
The first official baseball game is played, against Guilford College.
1895
Football becomes the first team to wear red and white uniforms.
1898
The first track team is organized for intercollegiate competition but is disbanded after the season. Track does not reappear at State until 1905.
1900s
1902
The first NCSU-Wake Forest Easter Monday baseball game is played, a tradition that would last until 1947.
1907
The first on-campus football game is played at the new athletic field that would later become Riddick Stadium. The game ends with a 20-0 victory over Randolph-Macon College. The team also wins the Southern Intercollegiate Association championship, with six wins and one tie.
Baseball claims its first state championship with a 14-7 record.
1910s
1910The baseball team wins the South Atlantic conference championship, winning 18 of 19 games.
1911
The first official basketball games are played against Wake Forest in February, with each team winning its home game. State's game is played in Pullen Hall auditorium.
1918
Football player John Ripple is the first NCSU All-American in any sport.
1920s
1921
First use of the nickname "Wolfpack," for the football team only. All other sports continue using the name "Red Terrors."
1922
Tennis is organized as a varsity sport.
1923
The track and cross-country teams are granted varsity status.
1924
Thompson Gymnasium opens, becoming the first on-campus home dedicated to basketball. Previously, home games had been played in Raleigh Memorial Auditorium.
1925
Wrestling is granted varsity status.
1929
With a 13-6 record, the basketball team claims its first Southern Conference championship.
Radio station WPTF begins broadcasting State College baseball games.
1930s
1930
Morris Johnson is the first All-American in basketball.
The first night football game at Riddick is played, a 37-0 victory over High Point.
The fist golf team is organized.
1932
The boxing team claims an individual win in the 145-pound class at the Southern Conference championships. Individual wins in other classes follow in 1933 and 1936.
1939
The wrestling team wins the Southern Conference championship and finishes second to Appalachian State at the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) meet in Greensboro.
1940s
1946
Willis Casey is hired as the swimming coach, and the team wins or shares sixteen Southern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championships over the next thirty years.
Everett Case becomes the head coach of the basketball team, a position he holds until 1965. He remains the winningest coach in NCSU basketball history.
The baseball team wins the Big Four Conference title.
1947
The basketball team places third in its first national tournament, the National Invitational Tournament (NIT).
The football team is invited to its first post-season bowl game, the January 1 Gator Bowl against the University of Oklahoma.
All NC State athletics teams adopt the nickname "Wolfpack," replacing the previous name, the "Red Terrors."
1949
The first basketball game is played in Reynolds Coliseum, on December 2 against Washington & Lee.
Organized unofficially two years earlier, soccer becomes a varsity sport.
1950s
1950
The football team plays its first televised game on October 21 versus Maryland.
1951
The track team wins it first Southern Conference championship, repeating in 1952. It also wins the titles in the ACC in 1953 and 1954.
1952
Swimmer Bob Mattson wins the first of four consecutive years of All-American honors; in 1955 he becomes State's first NCAA champion, in the 200-yard breaststroke.
The fencing team is granted varsity status.
1953
NC State athletics teams join the newly formed Atlantic Coast Conference.
1954
The swimming team wins the Men's Outdoor National AAU Championship.
The basketball team wins the first ACC championship.
1954, 1956
Dick Fadgen wins seven NCAA and AAU individual championship swimming events.
1956
Swimmers (as an athletic club) win the Men's Indoor National AAU Championship.
1957
The first African-American athletes are Manuel Crockett and Irwin Holmes, both in Track.
1958
The basketball team wins the Dixie Classic Tournament against several powerhouse teams, including four in the Associated Press top ten, as well as the NCAA winner.
The rifle team is granted varsity status.
1960s
1962, 1963
Benito Artinatos becomes the first All-American in soccer, in consecutive years.
1965
The final football game is played at Riddick Stadium on November 13 against Florida State.
1966
The new Carter Stadium (renamed Carter-Finley Stadium in 1979) is unveiled on October 8 as the football team hosts South Carolina.
Doak Field opens as the new facility for the baseball team.
1967
The football team wins its first bowl game, a 14-7 victory over Georgia in the Liberty Bowl.
1968
The baseball team wins the ACC title and places third in the College World Series.
1969
Clyde Chesney becomes the first African-American football player.
1970s
1972
The Case Athletics Center opens; named after Everett N. Case, basketball coach from 1946 to 1965.
1973
Basketball player David Thompson is the first African-American to be named an All-American in any sport. He repeats as All-America the following year.
Swimmer Mark Elliott wins multiple gold medals at the World University Games.
1974
The men's basketball team wins its first NCAA championship.
The first women's athletic team (basketball) begins to play.
1975
Men's gymnastics and women's softball and volleyball begin varsity play.
1976
Swimmers Steve Gregg and Dan Harrigan win medals for the United States at the Summer Olympics in Montreal.
Basketball player Susan Yow is the first woman All-American in any sport.
1978
Ted Brown is the first African-American to be named an All-American in football.
The women's basketball team wins its first ACC championship.
1979
The football team wins its first ACC championship.
The University Track is renamed the Paul H. Derr Track, for the long-time track & field coach.
1979, 1980
The Women's Cross Country Team wins back-to-back national championships.
1980s
1980
Women's cross country runner Julie Shea is awarded the Broderick Cup by the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) as the most outstanding athlete of the year.
1981
Women's gymnastics becomes a varsity sport.
Jim Valvano is hired as the men's basketball coach, a position he holds through 1990.
1982
The Weisiger-Brown Athletics Facility opens.
1983
The men's basketball team wins the NCAA Championship.
Women's golf becomes a varsity sport.
1984
Alumna Joan Benoit wins the Women's Marathon at the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
1985
The men's 4x100 Meter Relay Team wins the NCAA championship.
1987
Women's basketball head coach Kay Yow is inducted into the Women's Sports Hall of Fame.
1988
Coach Kay Yow's U.S. Olympic Women's Basketball Team wins the Olympic Gold Medal in Seoul, South Korea.
1990s
1990
The men's soccer team wins its first ACC championship.
1998
Women's basketball reaches the Final Four at the NCAA tournament.
1999
The men's basketball team plays the first game in the off-campus RBC Center on November 19.
2000s
2000
Women's golf is reinstituted as a varsity sport. A team was previously fielded from 1980 to 1986.
2002
One hundred thirty-four NCSU athletes are named to the ACC Fiftieth Anniversary Teams in twenty-one sports.
2003
The Wendell H. Murphy Football Center opens.
2004
The J.W. Isenhour tennis facility opens.
2005
Swimmer Cullen Jones wins a gold medal in the 50-meter freestyle at the World University Games.
Other Timelines
Timeline of NCSU History
Timeline of African Americans at NCSU
Timeline of NCSU Libraries
