College Sports Established
1889
Location
Commerce, Texas
College Name
Texas A&M University-Commerce
Collegiate History
2022 - Present / NCAA Division I
Conference History
2022 - Present / Southland Conference
Nickname
Lions - The Lions have been a long-time nickname for Texas A&M Commerce University.
NCAA Championships
Baseball 0
Men's Basketball 0
Women's Basketball 0
Football 0
Soccer 0
- 1957
- 1996
- 2007
- 2009
- 2017
-
Texas A&M Commerce Lions football team wins its first NAIA national championship
In 1957: The Texas A&M Commerce Lions football team wins its first NAIA national championship, defeating Pittsburg State 10-9 in the title game. -
Texas A&M Commerce Lions women’s soccer joins the Lone Star Conference
In 1996: The Texas A&M Commerce Lions women’s soccer team plays its first season as a varsity sport and joins the Lone Star Conference. -
Texas A&M Commerce Lions women’s basketball team reaches the NCAA Division II Elite Eight
In 2007: The Texas A&M Commerce Lions women’s basketball team reaches the NCAA Division II Elite Eight for the first time in school history and wins its first and only Lone Star Conference championship. -
Harvey Martin – Inducted into Hall of Fame
Harvey Martin (1968-1972): Martin played defensive end for the Lions and went on to have a successful career in the NFL. He played for the Dallas Cowboys and was a key member of their “Doomsday Defense” in the 1970s. Martin was named the co-MVP of Super Bowl XII and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009. -
Texas A&M Commerce Lions football team wins its third NCAA Division II national championship
In 2017: The Texas A&M Commerce Lions football team wins its third NCAA Division II national championship, defeating West Florida 37-27 in the title game.
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.
History of the Lions
The history of Texas A&M Commerce dates back to 1889 when it was founded as East Texas Normal College by former Confederate soldiers who wanted to provide educational opportunities for rural Texans after Reconstruction ended. In 1917, it became East Texas State Teachers College before changing its name again to East Texas State University in 1965 following its transition into a comprehensive university offering both bachelor’s and master’s degrees programs across multiple disciplines including business administration and engineering technology.
In 1996, East Texan State University merged with nearby Sam Houston State University becoming part of what is now known as today's TAMUC (Texas A&M-Commerce). As part of this merger agreement on athletics between both schools, they decided that ETSU would keep their athletic program while SHSU will start up theirs all over again which led to them having no intercollegiate sports teams until 2003 when they started competing at the NAIA level then finally joining NCAA DII level six years later where we find them today still trying hard every season making sure they fight tooth & nail for each game win so that one day soon enough can make another run towards another National Championship title like those ones achieved during 1986 & 1989 respectively under head coach Eddie Vowell's era leading his players through several successful campaigns along his tenure.
Overall, the success story behind TAMUC Football Program has been written by many generations but always leaves us wanting more out there due to all those great memories left behind through time thanks mostly because of all these dedicated student-athletes coming together year after year representing proudly not just themselves but also everyone else around them striving every day towards excellence even if sometimes things don't go exactly how you planned or expected.
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