History of the Panthers
The Georgia State Panthers are the intercollegiate athletics teams representing Georgia State University, located in Atlanta, Georgia. Almost all GSU teams compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as members of the Sun Belt Conference, a conference of which they were charter members. Previously, GSU was a member of the CAA and the ASUN Conference (then known as the Trans America Athletic Conference, or TAAC).
Two GSU sports play outside the Sun Belt, both in sports not sponsored by that league; both teams joined their current conference homes in July 2021. The women's beach volleyball team joined the newly launched beach volleyball league of Conference USA after being members of the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association. This conference sponsors only that sport plus men's and women's swimming & diving. The men's soccer team, which had competed in the Sun Belt through the 2020–21 school year, moved to the Mid-American Conference following the demise of the Sun Belt men's soccer league.
College Sports Established
1913
Location
Statesboro, Georgia
College Name
Georgia Southern University
Collegiate History
1976 - Present / NCAA Division I
Conference History
1976 - 1983, 2014 - Present / Sun Belt Conference
2001 - 2005 / ASUN Conference
1983 - 2001 / Trans America Athletic Conference
Nickname
Panthers - The nickname "Panthers" has existed as the name for all Georgia State teams since 1963, when the university held a student vote to determine what the representing mascot should be. It wasn't until 1989 that an official mascot appeared in the form of Urbie, a crimson panther. This was later replaced in 1993 by an early iteration of the current mascot, Pounce, a blue panther. Pounce's appearance has changed twice since his debut, most recently in 2009 when the current incarnation was presented during a basketball game against Georgia Southern.
The first team name to represent Georgia State was the Owls, used between 1940 and 1947, used as a representation of the schools title at the time of "Georgia Evening College." Between 1947 and 1963, GSU teams went by the name "Ramblers," although no reasoning for why has been presented. The teams were also briefly referred to as the "Crimson Panthers" during the Urbie era.
NCAA Championships
Baseball 0
Men's Basketball 0
Women's Basketball 0
Football 0
Soccer 0
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