Detroit Mercy Titans
The Detroit Mercy Titans are the athletic teams of University of Detroit Mercy. The University is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I. The school primarily competes in the Horizon League, but competes in other conferences for fencing and lacrosse, sports not sponsored for either men or women by the Horizon League. Fencing, a co-ed sport, competes in the Midwest Fencing Conference. Men's lacrosse competes in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference; women's lacrosse had competed in the Southern Conference through the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season, but joined the Mid-American Conference for that league's first women's lacrosse season in 2021.
Teams
A member of the Horizon League, University of Detroit Mercy sponsors 17 NCAA varsity teams. Detroit Mercy is one of only 4 NCAA Division I schools that sponsors neither volleyball nor baseball. Previously the Tigers, in either 1919 or 1924 the school adopted the Titans nickname.| Men's sports | Team article | Head coach | Women's sports | Team article | Head coach | Co-ed sports | Team Article | Head Coach | ||
| Basketball | Titans men's basketball | Mike Davis | Basketball | Titans women's basketball | AnnMarie Gilbert | Fencing | Todd Dressell | |||
| Cross country | Guy Murray | Cross country | Guy Murray | |||||||
| Golf | Erik Taurence | Golf | Larry Hamilton | |||||||
| Lacrosse | Chris Kolon | Lacrosse | Dwayne Hicks | |||||||
| Soccer | Titans men's soccer | Nicholas Deren | Soccer | Steve Shelton | ||||||
| Track & field | Titans track and field | Guy Murray | Softball | Marc Gillis | ||||||
| Track & field | Titans track and field | Guy Murray |
;Notes
Sports
Basketball, men's
On June 13, 2018, Detroit Mercy named Mike Davis the 22nd head coach in men’s basketball program history. The NCAA Tournament-tested Davis previously coached at Texas Southern University, where he led the team to four regular season titles, four conference tournament championships and four NCAA Tournament appearances. He led Indiana University to the 2002 NCAA Championship game.Starring for the Titans is Davis’ son, Antoine Davis. In his debut season in 2018-19, Antoine Davis broke the NCAA Division I freshman record for 3-point field goals made in a season, previously held by NBA star Stephen Curry.
Former head coach Ray McCallum led Detroit Mercy to the Horizon League Championship during the 2011-12 season, granting the Titans an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Detroit Mercy received a 15 seed and lost to the University of Kansas in the tournament's second round.
McCallum's predecessor Perry Watson led a successful program at Detroit's Southwestern High School and served as an assistant coach at the University of Michigan before coming to Detroit Mercy and maintained strong recruiting ties within the city's public league. After 14 seasons Watson stepped down as head coach at the end of the 2007–2008 season. Watson guided Detroit Mercy to 10 winning seasons, three league titles, two NCAA Tournament appearances and an NIT Final Four. The Titans two NCAA appearances also included victories over St. John's and UCLA. Between 1997–98 and 2000–01, the Titans had four straight 20-victory seasons.
Dick Vitale, ESPN's most well-known college basketball commentator, was the Detroit men's basketball head coach for four seasons before becoming the school's athletic director in 1977. The following year he left to coach the Detroit Pistons. In his final year as a college head coach, "Dickie V." led the Detroit Titans to the Round of 16 in the 1977 NCAA Tournament before losing 86–81 to Michigan.
Basketball, women's
On April 24, 2020, Detroit Mercy named AnnMarie Gilbert the 12th head coach in women’s basketball program history. A veteran coach, Gilbert brings 287 career victories to the Titans. She also led Virginia Union to the NCAA Division II championship game in 2017.Gilbert’s predecessor, Bernard Scott, led the Titans to 33 wins in his first two seasons, including a trip to the Horizon League championship game at Joe Louis Arena in 2016-17. His contract was not renewed following the 2019-20 season.
Scott took over for Autumn Rademacher, a former star guard at Detroit Mercy. Rademacher coached the Titans from 2008-2015, guiding the team to 89 victories, including a 20-win season in 2011-12 and appearances in the Women's National Invitation Tournament and Women's Basketball Invitational National Tournament. In 2010–11, Rademacher led Detroit Mercy to a win over in-state rival and Big Ten member Michigan. The victory not only ended a six-game losing streak to Michigan, it was the first triumph over the Wolverines – as well as against the Big Ten – since 1994.
Lacrosse, men's
The Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team, coached by Matt Holtz, won the 2013 MAAC Championship and advanced to the NCAA tournament, where it was downed in the fourth quarter by Notre Dame.Football (discontinued)
The first attempt at a football team for the University of Detroit was known as the Detroit Heralds. That team was disbanded after the 1904 season, and most of the players formed an amateur team of the same name in 1905. Although the university team returned in 1906, the amateur team remained, eventually evolving into a semi-professional team, then a professional team, ultimately joining the National Football League as a charter member in 1920. The Heralds folded in 1921.In 1928, the Detroit Titans under Gus Dorais finished with a record of 9-0-0. Several years later Parke H. Davis, considered to be a "major selector" by the NCAA, named the 1928 team to a share of the national championship
John Idzik was the head coach for the final three seasons of the football program, from 1962 until 1964. His coaching record at Detroit was 6 wins, 21 losses and 1 tie. The school then disbanded the football team after the 1964 season due to cost.