Lamar University Athletics

Lamar University students enjoy cheering on the Cardinals in 17 NCAA Division I men’s and women’s sports. Proud members of the Southland Conference, the Cardinals have a history of winning championships in sports including football, baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, soccer, golf and cross country.

• Football, women's basketball (mid-major poll), soccer and baseball have all been ranked nationally in the past two seasons. 
• LU football is in the midst of its most successful two-year stretch since the 1960s.
• LU baseball has recorded back-to-back 40-win seasons for the first time in two decades and posted a school-record (in terms of winning percentage) with a 27-2 (.931) home record in 2025. 
• Men's basketball is coming off a 20-win season and a trip to the Southland Championship game - its best season since 2008. 
• Men's basketball also set a school record with 14 conference wins in 2024-25.
• Women's basketball has recorded three consecutive 20-win seasons, including a 2024 SLC regular-season title. 
• Over the course of the previous two academic years, Lamar has won either the Southland Women's All-Sports Trophy, Men's All-Sports Trophy or SLC Commissioner's Cup - trophies given to the league's strongest overall athletics department.

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Facilities

Lamar has some of the finest athletic facilities in the region.

• The Dauphin Athletic Complex houses the Lamar football team as well as other athletic administration. The 54,000-square-foot facility lies at the south end of newly renovated Provost Umphrey Stadium. The complex contains football locker rooms, weight room and nutrition center, the Beaumont Bone and Joint Sports Medicine Facility and the John Payton Academic Success Center. 
• The Neches Federal Credit Union Arena at the Montagne Center is a multi-purpose facility. The arena can host sporting events such as basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, wrestling, boxing and martial arts tournaments. With arena and floor seating, Neches Arena is a perfect venue for hosting concerts and other family-friendly events. Lamar replaced the court and installed a new state-of-the-art videoboar prior to the start of the 2023-24 season. Neches Arena Web Site
• Vincent-Beck Stadium, home of the Cardinal baseball team, Vincent-Beck Stadium has been witness to 11 Southland Conference Championship teams (12 overall), nearly 100 MLB draft selections, numerous All-Americans and a hall of fame coach (Jim Gilligan). The facility also played host to the 1993 Sun Belt Conference tournament, and the 2001, 2002 and 2006 Southland Conference tournaments. Prior to the 2019 season, a new playing surface was installed proudly displaying a large interlocking LU logo in centerfield. In March 2025, Lamar hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Teri and Glen Morgan Baseball Complex. The new addition will be an 8,500-square foot building that will consist of a new locker room, coaches' offices, training room, film room, lounge and equipment room. Entering the building through the lobby will also be a hall of fame celebrating the Cardinals' history in baseball. View Virtural Tour
• The LU Soccer Complex opened in 2009 and is one of the top facilities in the Southland Conference.
• The LU Softball Complex features a fully lighted playing field, a programmable irrigation and fertilization system. Amenities for the players include spacious dugouts and locker rooms as well bullpens for both teams and a covered hitting facility. View Virtural Tour
• The Thompson Family Tennis Center, now named the Thompson Family Tennis Center, received a total renovation in 2009, with newly surfaced courts prior to the start of the 2025 spring season.
• The Sonny Jolly Track at the Ty Terrell Track Complex, which was originally named Ty Terrell Track included the names of both LU coaching greats in July 2025. 
• The McDonald Gymnasium opened its doors in 1958 and immediately became a campus landmark. Originally the home of Cardinal basketball, the facility received a major renovation in 2006 and now serves as the home to Lamar volleyball and is housed within the Sheila Umphrey Recreational Sports Center.
• Provost Umphrey Stadium and W.S. “Bud” Leonard Field is one of the best Division I FCS venues in the nation seating 16,000 and features seven luxury suites. This state-of-the-art venue was renovated in 2009 thanks in large part to the generosity of donors like the late Walter Umphrey and his partners at Provost Umphrey law firm, Education First Federal Credit Union, the Morgan Charitable Foundation and Dan F. and Sandra A. Smith. In July 2021, Lamar added a new playing surface to the facility - FieldTurf Classic HD CoolPlay - utilizing state-of-the-art technology allowing the playing surface to be approximately 35 degrees (Fahrenheit) cooler than traditional sand-rubber infill systems. Prior to the 2024 season, Lamar also installed a new 10mm, high-definition LED videoboard measuring 76'6" by 35'2". With more than 2,700 square feet of LED lighting, the new videoboard is more than 200 percent larger than the previous structure while existing in the old videoboard's footprint. The back of the structure is encased with a covering displaying a Lamar logo. View Virtural Tour