Athletics

Building Character. Promoting Achievement. Fostering Unity.

Not long ago, Damian Lillard was a spunky teen in Oakland, California, who often chose Weber State in a video game against friends. Not because the Wildcats were his favorite team, but because they were considered underdogs — and if there was one thing Damian couldn’t resist, it was a challenge.

By now, most sports fans know how Damian’s Cinderella story played out: with the two-time Big Sky MVP and All-American Wildcat point guard becoming the NBA’s No. 6 overall draft pick, 2013 Rookie of the Year and 2014 All-Star. What they might not know is how much Damian credits Weber State University Athletics for his ultimate success as a player and as a person.

For more than a century, WSU student-athletes have forged a tradition of excellence that has ignited school spirit, united campus and community and attracted national limelight. Whether they competed as Weberites or Wildcats, generations of scholar-athletes emerged from our programs with an enviable skill set, an energized intellect and a lifetime determination to succeed.

Our men’s basketball team has clinched 21 Big Sky Conference titles and has advanced to the NCAA Tournament 15 times. ESPN recently ranked the program among its top 50 in the last 50 years.

Today, WSU fields 16 NCAA Division I sports programs in:

  • Basketball
  • Cross country
  • Football
  • Golf
  • Soccer
  • Softball
  • Tennis
  • Track and field
  • Volleyball

Weber State is a founding member of the Big Sky Conference, and has produced nearly 150 All-Americans and more than 350 MVPs or conference champions.

WSU Athletics has guided a number of gifted men and women into the world of professional sports and other high-profile activities:

  • Former collegiate golf star Mike Malaska turned pro after graduation, and has become a prominent figure in the PGA.
  • Women’s track and field standout Lindsey Anderson represented the U.S. at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
  • Drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 1995, former Wildcat tackle Ta’u Pupu’a was later accepted into an elite music program in New York City, and is now performing leading operatic roles around the globe.

With such an exceptional past, we dream of an even brighter future.

Student-athletes come to Weber State with dreams and drive. They are inspired by dedicated faculty and staff who value academic and personal integrity as much as athletic achievement.

What We Can Accomplish Together

Year after year, WSU produces winners. The more national headlines we grab, the less our name is mispronounced. We are “WEE-ber” Wildcats, and mighty proud of it! Every day, we look for new ways to boost our level of performance and support WSU’s overall mission.

That’s why we’re embarking on this anniversary campaign, inviting alumni and friends to invest in our efforts to sharpen our competitive edge and enhance the reputation of Weber State University.

Provide Opportunity

Athletic Scholarships

Weber’s student-athlete graduation rate is above the campus average. Some Wildcats have earned Academic All-Conference and Academic All-American honors. Athletic scholarships allow emerging talents to focus on academics and sports, without having to work unrelated jobs to make ends meet. By funding an athletic scholarship, you make it possible for a promising student-athlete, especially one from a low-income household, to afford a college education.

Named Position Endowments

Through the years, individual Wildcats have dazzled fans with jaw-dropping performances. Who could forget wide receiver Henry Owens’ 60-yard sprint to the end zone after first fumbling the football, then having it miraculously bounce back into his hands? Or Jimmy DeGraffenreid’s game-winning, 40-foot buzzer beater against Utah State?

With funds raised during Dream 125, we hope to establish scholarship endowments for specific athletic positions — from quarterback to point guard to steeplechaser. Your support will help us recruit top talent from around the world.

Wildcat Club

In 1928, ardent Wildcat fans weathered a month-long, round-trip voyage to the Hawaiian Islands to watch their football team tackle an opponent in Honolulu. Aboard the SS Wilhelmina was 23-year-old alumna Elizabeth Dee Shaw, who would later play a pivotal role in the construction of the Dee Events Center and other iconic campus structures.

Weber sporting events spark community pride. Organized in 1963, the Wildcat Club is a collection of diehard campus and community “fanatics” dedicated to supporting WSU Athletics. Club donations benefit more than 300 student-athletes each year. With your support, we can serve even more.

Travel and Competition

Transporting teams, staff and equipment to and from competitions has never been easy. Traveling 73 miles to meet an instate rival in Grantsville, Utah, was an exhausting, seven-hour ordeal for Weber’s 1913 basketball squad. (Players rode partway in stagecoaches!) Things weren’t much better in the 1960s when athletes drove to and from games in a refurbished mortuary limousine.

Modern transportation is less physically demanding, but expensive. Your gift will help defray the staggering cost of sending gifted student-athletes to prestigious sporting venues and postseason tournaments.

Advance Knowledge

Named Coaching Endowments

Synergy between the locker room and the classroom is a top priority at WSU. Our coaches may be “in it to win it,” but they also help players through emotional slumps and stress the value of earning a college degree. Named coaching endowments will enable us to recruit and retain nationally prominent coaches who are deeply committed to all aspects of player development.

Enhance Campus

Throughout its history, Weber has looked to the community for help funding top-of-the-line facilities that bolster the reputation of the Wildcats and fulfill the dreams and expectations of our coaches, student-athletes and fans.

Dee Events Center

Weber’s early basketball games were played at an outdoor park. (No wonder players wore long pants and turtleneck sweaters!) Eager fans flocked to the Dee Events Center when it opened in 1977, and attendance at men’s basketball games skyrocketed. A new state-of-the-art scoreboard and energized mascot have pushed fan engagement to a new level. With further improvements, the Dee can become the nation’s premier college basketball arena.

Wildcat Soccer Field

With the opening of the Marquardt Field House in 2013, Weber State University became the first in the Big Sky Conference to boast an indoor practice field. Our focus now turns to raising funds for additional improvement projects, including lights for the Wildcat Soccer Field.

Stewart Stadium

Our goal is to make events at Stewart Stadium even more exciting and comfortable. We hope to add new seating, restrooms and a modernized ticket office to the north end. We’d also like to provide our fans with social media interactivity.