Name-a-Day Calendar, November 22: Army Black Knights
Page 16 of 365
Chosen in: 1999
Chosen by: The athletic department
For as long as the United States Military Academy has fielded intercollegiate athletics, their sports teams have been known as the Cadets; that’s what all students at West Point are called, after all. Their football team, in the midst of an unprecedented era of dominance during World War II, began to be commonly known as the “Black Knights of the Hudson” on account of wearing black uniforms and being situated on the bank of the Hudson River. As far as I can tell, it’s unclear who exactly coined this phrase, but it stuck around as an unofficial nickname for decades, well after the peak of Army’s football prowess. The athletic department eventually made the shortened “Black Knights” the official nickname for all their sports teams in 1999.
In 2015, the academy got cold feet and hinted at a return to the original Cadets nickname, but they couldn’t quite commit either way; the result was that they kept Black Knights as the official nickname but shifted away from any logos and imagery that included a black knight. They also stated, for the record, that it was still okay to call their sports teams the Cadets or The Corps.1 Of course, Navy wouldn’t be a good rival if they didn’t get their jabs in at this identity crisis.
While the black knight remains Army’s athletic moniker, it is not (and never has been) their mascot. That honor goes to the mule, which the academy has used since 1899. Learn more about the history of the Army Mule in this video from the Patriot League.
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At the same time, they also asked to be called “Army West Point” instead of just “Army”, a request that flopped so badly that their own official releases don’t even use the full name. The mastermind behind this mess of a rebrand? None other than current NC State athletic director and College Football Playoff selection committee chair Boo Corrigan.