Beginning with the 1963-64 school year, Pueblo College
transitioned into Southern Colorado State College, a four-year
institution. Athletics followed suit and immediately began
competing in the NAIA, playing other four-year institutions.
The SCSC athletic programs enjoyed immediate success.
Southern Colorado State College Athletic Highlights
1963-64: The SCSC athletic programs got off to
a rousing start, especially in the marquee sports of football,
basketball and baseball. The football team went a reputable
3-5 against the raised level of competition while the baseball team
also played around .500, going 10-11. But it was the
basketball team that showed it was no slouch, going 18-6 and
showing it could hang with nearly any opponent.
1964-65: An SCSC team qualified for the
postseason for the first time as the basketball team qualified for
the NAIA National Tournament by winning the NAIA District VII
Championship. In the same year, the track team, under the
direction of Jim "Spank" Blasing, registered two placers at the
NAIA National Championships and showed it had the horses for future
excellence. In that same year, SCSC graduated its first class
as it moved in to its current location, known as "The Belmont
Campus" initially after being housed on the "Orman Campus" for 30
years on the site that currently houses Pueblo Community
College.
1965-66: The SCSC physical education department
hired former women's professional basketball player and
"All-American Redhead" Jessie Banks as a P.E. instructor, and she
would lay the groundwork for the women's athletic program at SCSC,
and later, the University of Southern Colorado. She would
coach several sports, including softball, volleyball, and most
prominently, basketball, which competed in A.A.U. circuits before
playing in the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women
(AIAW) in the 1970s. She would also become the only
individual associated with CSU-Pueblo to be inducted in the
Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a member of the All-American
Redheads.
1966-67: Participating in the newly-formed NCAA
College Division for the first time, SCSC reported its first
individual national champions as John Martinez would win the
national championship in the mile run and the foursome
of Clayton Gall, Gene Morenz, John Martinez, Isaac
Barnes pulled out the win in the mile relay. The two finishes
would help key a 7th-place national finish for the track
team.
1967-68: Baseball was the talk of the college
in 1968 as the team boasted two future Major League Baseball
draftees in Pat Bekeza and Dennis Jones, earning a berth to the
NCAA College Division National Tournament. It would be the
first - and only - national berth by the baseball program until the
program was eliminated for a short time in 1985.
1968-69: For the first time since becoming a
four-year institution, SCSC joins a conference by becoming a member
of one of the nation's oldest conferences, the Rocky Mountain
Athletic Conference. Its membership in the RMAC would last
until the present day, with several short-lived hiatuses in
between.
1969-70: The tennis team wins its first
championship as it wins the NAIA District VII Championship and
finishes 14th in the nation. It was the first of 20 national
tournament appearances by the tennis team over the next 30 years,
which was far and away a high among the school's athletic programs.
In the same year, the track team also reported its first
individual conference champion as Mel Rogers won the high jump
title.
1970-71: The construction of Massari Arena is
underway on the SCSC campus, slated to house the basketball team
for the 1971-72 season.
1971-72: The basketball team turns in its best
season as a four-year school as it cruises to the Rocky Mountain
Athletic Conference championship and the NCAA College Division
National Tournament. In front of a packed house at
newly-constructed Massari Arena, the Indians host the Regional
Tournament and bests Seattle Pacific in the regional championship
to earn a berth in the NCAA College Division Elite Eight,
eventually losing in the national quarterfinals. Later that
year, the golf team wins its first conference championship, led by
individual conference champion, Rick Pobst.
1972-73: After playing for four seasons in the
RMAC's Plains Division, SCSC relocates to the Great Plains Athletic
Conference due to the RMAC's economically-motivated split.
The teams in the Plains Division become the GPAC, where SCSC
would call home until 1976. In that first season, SCSC won
three GPAC titles (in basketball, golf and tennis), marking the
most team conference championships in one season in school
history.
1974-75: Addressing an imbalance in the
burgeoning women's college basketball scene, women's basketball
coach Jessie Banks gets the wheels turning on the first ever
Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) Small
College National Tournament. With only the top small schools
(modern day Division II and NAIA institutions) invited to compete,
the tournament is held at Massari Arena, marking the first major
national tournament to be held on campus. SCSC is also
granted a berth in the tournament.
Additionally, it wasn't the only national tournament of the
school year. Later on, the NCAA Division II Tennis Tournament
was held at Pueblo City Park by SCSC.
The national tournaments provided an exclamation point on the
institution's life as Southern Colorado State College, as it would
change its name to the University of Southern Colorado the
following year.
