LEGACY: SC State is steeped in Athletics South Carolina State University has enjoyed a rich and storied history in athletics, complementing its outstanding achievements in academics. Sports at the institution were competitive from the start and continue to flourish today.
SC State, arguably, has been perhaps the most dominant school in the league over the years, winning almost 100 league championships, including two – men’s tennis, women’s tennis and football -- during the 2015 season.
And, while parity has become the norm in the MEAC, SC State’s early dominance can be underscored by the university’s once, long hold on the league’s T.L. Hill All-Sports Trophy for overall excellence in athletics. Beginning with the 1974-75 school year, the institution earned the prestigious award nine out of 10 seasons.
Included among the almost 100 conference titles the school has captured in its 118-year history, are sixteen (16) in football, twenty-one (21) crowns in cross country/track and field, seventeen (17) in basketball, twenty-one (21) in tennis, five in golf, three in swimming, and two in volleyball.
The university, which has produced some of the nation’s premier athletes, has also claimed two national titles and eleven national Black championships during its long and storied existence. In 1979, the SCSU women won the prestigious AIAW (Association for Intercollegiate for Women) Division II National Championship, and followed that feat by capturing the AIAW National Track and Field title in 1982.
South Carolina State also has to its credit four historical black college basketball titles (1943, 1996, 1998, 2003),
four national black football championships (1976, 1981, 1994, 2009), three national minority collegiate golf crowns (1987-89), and three national black swimming titles (1980-82).
The University can lay claim to Pro Football Hall of Famers Marion Motley (deceased), a member of the original Cleveland Browns who spent two seasons at S.C. State before moving to Nevada; David “Deacon” Jones (deceased) of the Los Angeles Rams, who also played two years for the Bulldogs; and Harry Carson, a former Bulldog All-American who went to an outstanding career with the New York Giants, where he played on a World Championship Team.
Also, in football, S. C. State counts among its alums NFL standouts Donnie Shell, who won four Super Bowl rings with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Barney Chavous, who had an outstanding career as a player and coach with the Denver Broncos (and who owns two Super Bowl rings as a Bronco coach), John Gilliam, one-time NFL record holder in receiving, Charlie Brown of the Washington Redskins, who also owns a Super Bowl ring, Edwin Bailey, who set several team records during a 13-year career with the Seattle Seahawks, Robert Porcher of the Detroit Lions, the school’s only NFL first-round draft pick and Dwayne Harper who played 12 seasons in the NFL.
High moments indeed, and right up there with winning the AIAW Division II title in 1979 and producing the first two players chosen in the baseball winter draft in 1974 – Eugene Richards, who went to San Diego, and Willie Mays Aiken, chosen by California and later starred at Kansas City.
POINTS OF PRIDE
- Over 100 Conference Championships
- 15 National Black Championships
5 Basketball
4 Football3 Swimming
3 Golf
1979 AIAW Div. II Basketball
1982 AIAW Div. II Track & Field
- Over 100 All-Americans
- 24 MEAC Hall of Famers
- 13 SC Athletic Hall of Famers
- 3 Pro Football Hall of Famers
- 3 NFF College Football Hall of Famers
- 2 Division II Football Hall of Famers
- 3 Black College Football Hall of Famers
- 3 SC Football Hall of Fames
- 2 Major League Baseball Draftees
