History of the Minutemen
The UMass Minutemen are the athletic teams representing the University of Massachusetts Amherst; strictly speaking, the Minutemen nickname applies to men's teams and athletes only — women's teams and athletes are known as Minutewomen. The Minutemen and Minutewomen compete in NCAA Division I sports competitions primarily as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. UMass is one of only 16 universities in the nation that plays Division I FBS football and Division I men's ice hockey (six of which are in the Big Ten Conference). The nickname is also applied to clubs that do not participate within the NCAA structure.
College Sports Established
1863
Location
Amherst, Massachusetts
College Name
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Collegiate History
1976 - Present / NCAA Division I
Conference History
1976 - Present / Atlantic 10 Conference
Nickname
Minutemen - When athletic teams were first fielded by Massachusetts Agricultural College, the popular nickname was "Statesmen", in honor of the roles of Massachusetts statesmen in the founding of the country. Although "Aggies" was also used, by 1948 the school, which had changed its name to the University of Massachusetts the year before, decided a new nickname was in order. From the leading choices, Redmen was chosen, both for the roles Native Americans served in the history of the Commonwealth and for their "strength and fierceness in defending his lands."
However, by 1972, Native Americans in the region were calling the choice of nickname into question for the derogatory connotations of the name. The administration began requesting that the name be used as little as possible, and by the end of the 1972 spring semester, the Board of Trustees chose to change the nickname to Minutemen, one of the choices that was a finalist in 1948. The name was chosen for its ties to the history of the Commonwealth, as the Minutemen were instrumental in the early stages of the American Revolution. Though there was some controversy in the 1990s over the mascot being perceived as "a symbol of oppression," the mascot has remained the Minutemen and Minutewomen.
NCAA Championships
Baseball 0
Men's Basketball 0
Women's Basketball 0
Football 0
Soccer 0
To qualify as the greatest player for this team, the player must have played one season for this team. If not, we will remove the player.
* verifies that player has played for this team as an added player by a fan.