Wayne State Warriors

The Wayne State intercollegiate athletics program was established in 1917 by director of athletics David L. Holmes, when the school was known as Detroit Junior College. Revered by his athletes, Holmes initially coached all sports. His track teams were nationally known into the 1950s; in his first ten years, he produced two Olympians from the school's Victorian-era gym. Although he had major ambitions for Wayne and scheduled such teams as Notre Dame and Penn State in the 1920s, the lack of facilities and money for athletics kept the athletic program small.

In 1927, three years after the school was renamed the College of the City of Detroit, a student poll selected the name of "Tartars" for the school's teams, which were generally known as the Detroit Tartars. In 1934, the college became Wayne University, with athletic teams known as the Wayne Tartars until 1956 when the school became Wayne State University and athletic teams were called the Wayne State Tartars. The Tartars nickname lasted until 1999 when the university changed it to "Warriors" due to a feeling that the Tartar name was dated and that not many people knew what a Tartar was.[3][4]

As the Detroit Tartars, the school competed in the Michigan Collegiate Conference from 1927 to 1931. In 1946, Wayne University was a founding member of the Mid-American Conference in 1946, but only played one season in the conference before leaving in 1947.[5][6] In 1955 the university, along with John Carroll University, Case Institute of Technology, and Western Reserve University formed the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC).[7] The University competed in the PAC until 1967 before competing as an independent program and joining the upstart Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) in 1975.

Since September 2000, Rob Fournier has served as athletic director.[8] Erika Wallace, who came to WSU in July 2019, serves as Chief of Staff.[9]

The Wayne State University Athletic Department sponsors the following sports:

• Official website