The Story
The Details
Site Map Credits

athletics

growth

There is one Sun Devil who is at every game, no matter what sport, as long as the team is playing: Sparky, ASU's beloved mascot. Engaging the crowd with impish antics, Sparky has endeared himself to all Sun Devils, young and old. He embodies the Sun Devil Way — to compete with passion — to serve our community and to win (and to beat Arizona).

A member of the academically and athletically gifted Pac-12 Conference, Arizona State has nine intercollegiate sports for men and 12 for women at the Division I level. The university has produced excellence in both team and individual sports (seven NCAA team titles and 37 national collegiate individual titles) while producing some of the nation's best and well-known athletes (Anthony Robles, James Harden, Jacquelyn Johnson, Amy Lepeilbet, Dustin Pedroia and Terrell Suggs).  A perennial contender for Pac-12 Conference championships and the Top 10 of the National Assication of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Directors’ Cup, Sun Devil Athletics also excels academically, with the second-most Academic All-Americans in the Pac-12 over the last 10 years.

Sun Devils win

Both student-athletes and coaches not only upheld the long-standing winning tradition of Sun Devil Athletics, but enhanced it over the past 10 years. From the gridiron to the diamond to the hardwood, SDA experienced unprecedented growth in all varsity sports, highlighted by a school-best fourth-place finish in the Directors’ Cup in 2007-08.

  • 234 All-American Student-Athletes
  • 55 Olympic Appearances
  • 37 Individual National Championships
  • 29 Pac-10/Pac-12 Coach of the Year Awards
  • 16 Pac-10/Pac-12 Championship Teams
  • 8 National Coach of the Year Awards
  • 7 National Championship Teams
  • 7 teams have posted top-10 finishes in the past two years
  • In 2012, the baseball team secured their 50th consecutive season with more than 30 wins; women’s golf was selected to participate in its 21st consecutive NCAA Championship; and women’s tennis made its 25th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance
  • In 2011, the softball team won their second national championship in four years under Coach Clint Myers
Athletics image 01

Sun Devils graduate

With the seventh-most Academic All-Americans in the nation since 2000, Sun Devil Athletics has successfully integrated the New American University model into its varsity sports programs. ASU created and implemented the "Scholar Baller” program becoming the first institution to acknowledge academic success on the game jersey. Sun Devil Athletics also developed cohort programming for each class, resulting in marked improvement in all areas of the student-athlete experience. This evolution is exemplified by the women’s tennis team, which has earned a perfect Academic Progress Rate score every year the measurement has been in existence while advancing to the NCAA tournament for 25 consecutive years.

 

Athletics image 02

Sun Devils serve

Whether it is visiting local elementary schools and children’s hospitals, teaming up with nonprofit organizations in the community or volunteering at events across the Valley, SDA has been at the forefront in increasing ASU’s prominence and influence in not only the Phoenix area, but also the state as a whole.

  • The Sun Devil Club has had 78,715 donations over the last 10 years
  • The Sun Devil Club has raised more than $134 million since 2002
  • Sun Devil Wrestler Anthony Robles won the 2011 NCAA National Title and was honored at the 2011 ESPY’s with the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance and named the Best Male Athlete with a Disability
  • A good example of Sun Devil Athletics helping the community during a tragedy is during Hurricane Katrina, when ASU hosted LSU’s football game with only a five-day notice and donated $1,000,000 for relief efforts
  • Pat’s Run, an annual 4.2-mile run/walk fundraising event run by the Pat Tillman Foundation and hosted by ASU, has grown to a 35,000-plus person event in just seven years
  • More than 1,200 student-athletes have participated in Sun Devils Serve Projects since 2010, totaling 6,251 hours

Sun Devils Athletics attendance

Nearly seven million fans have attended an ASU sporting event in the past 10 years, helping to create a unique and inclusive atmosphere around ASU’s Tempe campus. SDA has also hosted a litany of ancillary events, including President Barack Obama’s ASU commencement speech in May 2009 before a crowd of more than 70,000, which is the largest U.S. audience for Obama since his inauguration.

  • 10,089,428 people have attended events in Sun Devil Athletics’ facilities since 2002
  • Sun Devil Athletics has hosted events, including ASU sporting events, NCAA events, ancillary and community events, Arizona Cardinal games, Bowl games, and many others over the past 10 years
  • Sun Devil Athletics has had 6,791,160 fans attend ASU sporting events since 2002
  • Sun Devil Athletics has hosted 59 NCAA Events in the past 10 years drawing 846,522 spectators
  • Sun Devil Athletics has hosted 682 ancillary and community events in Sun Devil Athletics’ facilities with 919,104 people attending those events
  • The Arizona Cardinals played their home games in Sun Devil Stadium until 2006, drawing 1,532,642 fans from 2002-06
Athletics image 03

Sun Devils facility improvements

SDA has invested more than $100 million into its facilities over the past 10 years to ensure its varsity sports remain in the upper echelon of athletic programs. State-of-the-art indoor practice facilities for both football and basketball, among others, have made Arizona State a destination for student-athletes all over the country and across the globe.

Capital Projects
Deferred Projects
Future

Athletics image 04

Sun Devil Athletics achievements

A regular fixture in the NACDA Directors’ Cup, SDA has achieved success in all varsity sports while enabling its student-athletes to excel during both their time at ASU and after graduation. Evidenced by its representation at the Olympics, Women’s World Cup, NBA Finals, Super Bowl and The Master’s, among others, SDA has proven to be a training ground for those looking to shine on the world’s brightest athletic stages.

  • Arizona State has finished in the top 20 of the NACDA Directors' Cup in seven of the past 10 years, including three in the top 10. Sun Devil Athletics posted a school-best fourth-place finish in 2008 and was named the nation’s top college athletics program by Sports Illustrated. ASU has placed in the top 15 six times.
  • In May 2011 Sun Devil Athletics unveiled a massive rebranding campaign of the athletic department, including a new primary logo, to massive media coverage. The event, new logo and new uniforms were acclaimed across the nation.