Baseball The university's baseball team has won more regular season championships than any other SWAC member. They play their home games at
Lee-Hines Field.
Notable players •
Rickie Weeks was the first college player selected in the 2003
Major League Baseball Draft when the
Milwaukee Brewers made him their No. 1 pick, the highest a second baseman has ever been drafted in MLB Draft history. Weeks won the
Golden Spikes Award,
Dick Howser Trophy, and Baseball America College Player of the Year honors as the nation's top collegiate player during the 2003 season. • Hall of Famer
Lou Brock played baseball at Southern University from 1958 to 1960.
Men's basketball GSU basketball rivalry The basketball game against in-state rival Grambling State Tigers at the F.G. Clark Activity Center is annually the highest attended and one of the most anticipated games of the season.
TSU basketball rivalry Since 2008, Southern and Texas Southern have traditionally been the favorites to compete for the SWAC Championship every season. The games have become very competitive and highly anticipated by both universities.
Notable players Avery Johnson, former
NBA star who won an NBA title with the
San Antonio Spurs, is a 1988 graduate of Southern. Johnson was named
NBA Coach of the Year in 2006 after leading the
Dallas Mavericks to the
NBA Finals.
Bob Love, known as "Butterbean" while at Southern, is the second leading scorer in Chicago Bulls history behind
Michael Jordan. Love starred at Southern University between 1962 and 1965.
Women's basketball The 2005–2006 women's basketball team won a share of the SWAC regular season title and won the SWAC women's basketball tournament. This was Coach Sandy Pugh's third appearance in the NCAA tournament with the university.
Football Bayou Classic Every
Thanksgiving weekend, Southern plays in-state archrival Grambling State University in the
Bayou Classic at the
Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. The game is a national primetime telecast on
NBC. Due to
Hurricane Katrina, the 2005 game was moved to
Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas.
Homecoming The
homecoming football game is always a sold-out game of 25,000+ against a SWAC opponent. The football game is annually the last major event of homecoming week.
Jackson State Rivalry The Southern Jaguars maintains a very popular and heated football rivalry with SWAC East foe Jackson State University. The
Jackson State–Southern University rivalry game is one of the highest attended and most anticipated games for both schools every year.
Notable players Mel Blount played running back and cornerback for Southern from 1967 to 1969, before enjoying a 14-year career as a cornerback for the
Pittsburgh Steelers. A member of the
Steel Curtain defense, he helped the franchise win four
Super Bowl championships in six years. Blount was inducted into the
Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989.
Aeneas Demetrius Williams (/əˈniːəs/), a native of New Orleans, attended Southern University for academics and did not play football until his Junior year as a walk-on. After earning a starting position as a cornerback, Williams was drafted in the third round (59th overall) of the 1991 NFL Draft.[1] He played with the
Arizona Cardinals and
St. Louis Rams as a cornerback, then switched to free safety later in his career. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014.
Harold Carmichael attended Southern University as a three-sport athlete. He used his 6'8" height to play on the basketball team as a center, and threw the javelin and discus for the track and field team. In football, he shifted to playing wide receiver, where his performance was so outstanding he was inducted into the SWAC Hall of Fame in 2012.[2] He was drafted by the Eagles in the 7th round of the 1971 NFL Draft.[3]
Women's Soccer The Southern Lady Jaguars soccer team competes in the
Southwestern Athletic Conference, which is part of the
National Collegiate Athletic Association's
Division I. The team plays its home games at Jaguar Park.
Softball The Southern Lady Jaguars softball team competes in the
Southwestern Athletic Conference, which is part of the
National Collegiate Athletic Association's
Division I. The team plays its home games at
Lady Jaguar Field. ==National championships==