Oklahoma City Stars


The Oklahoma City Stars are the athletic teams that represent Oklahoma City University, located in Oklahoma City, in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The university fields 17 varsity sports teams, and these teams compete in the NAIA and the Sooner Athletic Conference in all sports except women's wrestling which competes in the Women's College Wrestling Association.
Until 1985, the Stars competed in the NCAA Division I Horizon League, which was known as the Midwestern City Conference at that time.

Men's basketball

Oklahoma City University has won 6 NAIA National Championships: 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007, and 2008.
Oklahoma City University has made 18 NAIA tournament appearances: 1987, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010.
As a member of the NCAA, Oklahoma City University went to the NCAA tournament 11 times, the most of any school no longer a member of the NCAA
Oklahoma City University appeared in the NIT twice, in 1959 and 1968.

Baseball

Oklahoma City has had 71 Major League Baseball Draft selections since the draft began in 1965.

Spirit Squads

OCU fields a pom squad, a cheerleading squad, and a stunt team
OCU has won National Cheerleaders Association National Championships in the following divisions:
All-Girl: 2012, 2013
Small Coed: 2014, 2015, 2016
Large Coed: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
OCU has won the National Dance Alliance Championships in the following divisions:
NDA NAIA Large: 2011, 2013
NDA NAIA Small: 2016
NDA Division III Hip Hop: 2016
OCU Dance won the NAIA Invitational in 2014
OCU Cheerleading won the NAIA Invitational in 2014
OCU Cheerleading won the NAIA National Championship in 2017.

National championships

In 2012, Kevin Patrick Hardy became OCU's first national champion in wrestling, taking the national title at 165 pounds. Hardy was a Division 1 three time state champion at Solon High School in Ohio.
Through the Spring 2012 sports season, Oklahoma City has won 49 national championships. Of these, 45 are NAIA championships, and four are WCWA championships.
Oklahoma City won the NACDA Director's Cup for the NAIA in 2002 and 2017, awarded annually to the college or university with the most success in collegiate athletics.
OCU has won national championships in the following sports :
Total men's Championships: 21
Total women's championships: 27
Total coed championships: 1

Football

Oklahoma City's football program and head coach Os Doenges made multiple innovative attempts to improving the game.
The first and most successful innovation was credited to opposing coach Dike Beede when the football team played in the 1941 Oklahoma City vs. Youngstown football game. This game marks the first American football game to use a penalty flag.
The second innovation was an unsuccessful venture to allow a coach to be on the field with the offense to help call plays and provide additional coaching as time allows. Doenges proposed tests with opposing coaches and at least two agreed to test the idea. However, the concept itself was considered a success and rules changes eventually allowed coaches on the sidelines to call plays and send plays in with a substitute.
Also, Doenges is credited with inventing the offensive V formation while at Oklahoma City. Nicknamed "Three dots and a dash", the program presented the new offensive formation to great fanfare before losing to the Southwestern Moundbuilders by a score of 7–0.
The team played Toledo in the 1948 Glass Bowl, losing 27–14.

Nickname and mascot history

The school is currently known as the Stars, but was known as the Goldbugs or Gold Bugs in the 1920s, 30s and early 40s. From 1944, the university was known as the Chiefs a nickname changed in 1998 in reaction to the mounting pressure on schools to adopt names more sensitive to and respectful of Native American culture.