Elon Phoenix Basketball

Fire of the Phoenix

Elon Phoenix is the name that denotes the 16 intercollegiate co-ed athletics played at Elon University. These men’s and women’s sports are all in the NCAA Division I. They are a part of the Southern Conference as well. Aside from the intercollegiate sports, Elon also offers 18 intramural sports and 21 club sports. ^[1]

Many people wonder where and how Elon became to be known as the Phoenix. Elon used to be known as the Fightin’ Christians as a response to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and the Duke Blue Devils. However, their mascot was changed to the Phoenix when the university had to “rise from the ashes” when the school experienced a very damaging fire in 1999. ^[2]

Southern Conference

The Elon Phoenix is a part of the Southern Conference. The Southern Conference has been lead the way as it was the first conference to install the three-point goal in basketball and establish a basketball tournament. It is commonly known as the SoCon and consists of 19 varsity sports (10 for men and 9 for women) and 12 members in 5 states. It is the nation’s 5th oldest NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association. ^[3]

The Elon Phoenix is amongst the 12 members of the SoCon. It joined the association in 2003 and actually won became the 2005-2006 basketball champions.

Men’s Basketball ^[4]

Head Coaches

=== Conference Affiliations ^[5]

• North State Conference ===
• Carolinas Conference
• South Atlantic Conference
• Big South Conference
• Southern Conference

Additional Information/ Interesting Facts

Season

• Most Victories

25 (1951-52, 1952-53, 1955-56)

• Longest Winning Streak

14 (1939-1940)

• Highest Scoring Avg.

84.3 (1955-56)

• Field Goal Pct.

50.0 (1968-69, 1977-78)

• Rebounds

1,528 (1955-56)

• Rebounding Avg.

47.8 (1955-56)

Game

• Points Allowed

4 vs. Atlantic Christian (1925)

• Field Goals Made

44 vs. Guilford (1956) and vs. DuPont (1957)

• Field Goal Att.

85 vs. Guilford (1949)

• Field Goal Pct.

68.9 vs. Guilford (1961)

• Free Throws

52 vs. North Carolina A&T (1969)

• Free Throws Att.

55 vs. North Carolina A&T (1969)

Championships

• Conference

1932, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1941, 1952, 1971, 1974, 2006 (North)

• Conference Tournament

1947, 1956, 1965, 1971, 1972, 1997

• State

1914, 1915, 1921

• District

1956, 1957

On February 9th, 2009, Elon retired its first basketball Jerseys, honoring All-Americans Jesse Branson (’65) and Tommy Cole (’72).

Women’s Basketball ^[6]

Head Coaches

Conference Affiliations ^[7]

• North State Conference
• Carolinas Conference
• South Atlantic Conference
• Big South Conference
• Southern Conference

All-Americans

• 1974-75 Susan Yow
• 1979-80 Vanessa Corbett
• 1981-82 Vanessa Corbett

Honorable Mention All-Americans =

• Kodak All-American

1996-97 Lakia Hayes

• Kodak All-American

1997-98 Lakia Hayes

Championships

• Conference

1981, 1982

• District

1982

• AIAW

1974

Future of Basketball and Elon Athletics

The Elon basketball program is looking forward to a promising future in the years to come. Both programs have newly hired head coaches who plan to return the Phoenix to dominance atop the Southern Conference and hopefully even the lesser schools of Division 1A basketball. Along with these coaches, Elon boasts a strong recruiting class on for the men’s and women’s teams which ultimately play a large role in the future success of the program.

“The Phoenix is timeless and unique. It perfectly describes an athletics program and an institution that are rising to new levels of excellence. There is only one Phoenix. There is only one Elon. Catch the Fire!”

References

1. http://www.elon.edu/e-web/visit/about_elon.xhtml
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_University
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socon
4. http://www.elon.edu/e-web/athletics/mbbmedia.xhtml
5. http://org.elon.edu/athletics/mediaguides/mbb0809/records.pdf
6. http://www.elon.edu/e-web/athletics/wbbmedia.xhtml
7. http://org.elon.edu/athletics/MediaGuides/wbb0809/records.pdf