UTPB Athletics

In their first year of Lone Star Conference (LSC) play, UT Permian Basin (UTPB) men's basketball conference championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.  The team followed that with a successful 2017-18 season that saw the Falcons reach the South Central Regional Finals, the farthest of any team in UTPB history at the time. 

Dr. Aicinena retired as Director of Athletics 2017 and was replaced by Scott Farmer, who had previously served as the Director of Athletics at UL Lafayette. The Falcons soon announced the construction of the D. Kirk Edwards Family Human Performance Center which opened in 2020. This state-of-the-art facility serves as the new headquarters for Falcon football, women's soccer, men’s and women’s golf, and administrative staff as well as the kinesiology department. It includes a state-of-the-art weight room and athletic training facilities, and as of the Summer of 2024, the Cindy & Homer Daniels nutrition center. 

Farmer also established the UTPB Champions Fund, an annual fund in which all donations go directly toward student-athlete scholarships. As of the Summer of 2020, the fund has raised over $600,000.

UTPB football made national headlines in November 2019 when "The Play" went viral.  It was subsequently viewed over 12 million times on social media and made the rounds on national television in the week that followed. Click here for more information and stories about "The Play"

2020-21:
UTPB Athletics was in the middle of a banner all-around year in the Spring of 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic caused the cancellation of the remainder of the Spring season. In 2020, Director of Athletics Scott Farmer announced his retirement from intercollegiate athletics after over 30 years over service. Just before the start of the 2020-21 school year, the D. Kirk Edwards Family Human Performance Center was opened, giving Falcon student-athletes a state-of-the-art facility and raising the bar in Division II athletics. In November 2020, Todd Dooley took over as Director of Athletics.

2021-22:
The Fall of 2021 was an historic year for the Falcons. The football program reached a bowl game for the first time in program history, squaring off against Oklahoma Baptist in the Fun Town RV Heritage Bowl in Corsicana, Texas.  The volleyball team broke through and made the LSC semifinals for the first time in program history after stunning two-time conference champion and the No. 6-ranked team in the country, Angelo State, on its home floor. The men’s soccer team clinched a playoff spot on the final day of the season with a thrilling 4-3 overtime win over rival Lubbock Christian. Erik Flores made history, becoming the first member of the UTPB cross country team to reach the national stage. Flores ultimately finished second in the LSC and was the highest finisher from the conference in the national championships.

2023-24:
During the 2023-2024 academic year, UTPB Athletics experienced unprecedented success across multiple sports and had one of its most successful overall athletics years in its history. The football team set a school record with a 96-0 win against Texas College on September 2, went undefeated in conference play (8-0), and captured their first LSC championship. Numerous players shattered individual and team records, and the team earned its first-ever national ranking and first-ever NCAA football playoff appearance. Women's basketball reached the LSC Championship game and the NCAA South Central Regional tournament for the first time in program history and set a school record with 24 wins. Standout players like Holly Hemmeline, Morgan Helgesen and Alexus Quaadman broke long-standing records for the women’s basketball team. In swimming and diving, multiple records fell, including performances by Delaney Murphy and Evan Siegrist. The diving program also continued its tradition of qualifying for the NCAA pre-qualifying meet and NCAA Championships as Matthew Lenzo qualified for the NCAA Championships and earned Honorable Mention All-American honors on both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving boards. Men's golf had an historic run with Sangha Park breaking individual scoring records and being ranked No. 1 nationally, all while the team won back-to-back tournaments in Hawaii, the first two tournament wins in program history, and achieved its highest national (11th) and regional (5th) rankings in program history. Men's tennis also made history with Takumi Katsuda and Jonas Krahofer winning the ITA Regional title and reaching the ITA Cup. The men’s tennis team later clinched its first LSC title and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 with a program-best 20-4 record. In addition, women's tennis and women’s golf both reached new single-season milestones, while the UTPB baseball team capped its season by hosting the opening round of the LSC Tournament for the first time in program history and earning a spot in the NCAA Regional tournament for the first time. The UTPB baseball team set a school record for runs in a game (34), was ranked No. 6 in the NCAA South Central Regional rankings, finished fourth in the LSC during the regular season, and also finished with the best record both overall (35-25) and in the LSC (28-20) since joining the LSC. Capping off the year, 13 of UTPB’s 14 teams achieved a 3.0 GPA or higher, highlighting their academic excellence alongside athletic dominance.