Name-a-Day Calendar, April 16: McNeese Cowboys / Cowgirls
Page 161 of 365
Chosen in: c. 1945
Chosen by: Players on one of the school’s first men’s basketball teams
In the days of World War II, the school we know today as McNeese State University was still finding its footing as John McNeese Junior College. They started their football program in 1940 with no official nickname, and their men’s basketball program would follow in 1945.
Players on one of the school’s first men’s basketball teams in the mid-1940s wanted a mascot, so they talked it over and decided on a cowboy. Rodeos were popular at the time and the land on which McNeese’s campus was built had been a farm field before it was developed, so the team thought the mascot fitting. From then on, the men’s basketball team and all other McNeese men’s sports teams were nicknamed the Cowboys. When women’s sports came along, those teams were naturally called the Cowgirls.
McNeese’s first costumed cowboy mascot came not long after the men’s basketball team’s decision in the mid-1940s. He’s undergone a few redesigns over the years and has been named Rowdy since 1982. Apparently he just loves Lake Charles.
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