The NJIT Highlanders, formerly the New Jersey Tech Highlanders, are the varsity sport members of the Division INCAA-affiliated sports teams of New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). There are ten men's teams, seven women's teams, and three club teams along with a variety of intramural teams. The school's primary conference is the America East Conference. In November 2017 NJIT opened the Wellness and Events Center (WEC) which incorporates upgraded facilities for most Division 1 sports including a 3,500-seat arena for basketball and volleyball.[2]
Behind the Highlander name and logo
NJIT is located in an area of Newark presently known as University Heights, and formerly known as the Newark Highlands. In addition, NJIT's mailing address used to be High Street until the street was renamed in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. These various references to 'High' are, in large measure, what led the school's students to choose The Highlander as its mascot. Upon moving up to NCAADivision I in 2006 -07, NJIT athletics updated its graphics. This included a new logo which depicts a stylized Scottish Highlander warrior in traditional garb.
† – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor
America East Conference logo in NJIT's colors
A member of the America East Conference, NJIT sponsors teams in ten men's, seven women's, and one coed NCAA sanctioned sports.
Move to Division I
NJIT athletics moved to NCAA Division I, the top level of college athletics, in 2006.
Prior to the reclassification of the athletic program, all teams competed at the Division II level. In the process of reclassification, both men's and women's soccer programs moved up to Division I faster than the other programs by taking advantage of a policy that allows lower division schools to elevate one sport in each gender to Division I in two years. NJIT men's soccer became a full member of NCAA Division I with championship eligibility at the start of the 2005 season. NJIT women's soccer began a similar two-year process in 2005, with full Division I status and championship eligibility arriving with the 2007 season.
NJIT athletics officially gained across-the-board active membership in NCAA Division I, beginning September 1, 2009.[3]
Men's lacrosse, which was elevated from club to full varsity status for the 2015 season (2014–15 school year), competed as an independent through the 2019 season, after which the team joined the Northeast Conference.[4]
Branch Brook Park, located approximately a 1/2 mile away from campus is the home for NJIT cross country teams.
The Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center, was the former athletic facility for the NJIT Highlanders. The facility and adjoining field were demolished in 2016 to make way for the Wellness & Events Center and Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium. Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium was the former home of the NJIT baseball team. The facility was demolished in 2019 to make way for a commercial-residential project named Riverfront Square.
Conference history
NJIT competed independently until 2009, when the Highlanders became a part of the Great West Conference in the summer of 2008 as one of six programs to form a Division I all-sports league that began full conference scheduling and championships in 2009–10. The Great West Conference was formerly a football-only league. Chicago State University joined the conference in October 2008, increasing the total full-sports members to 7.[5]
The newly expanded conference was not eligible for automatic Division I championship postseason qualification, men's basketball tournament champion was granted an automatic bid to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT).[6]
During the 2012–13 basketball season, the NCAA underwent major changes in conference realignment where the WAC added three of five Great West schools, while Houston Baptist accepted an invitation to the Southland Conference. With only NJIT left, the conference folded. Although the Northeast Conference and Atlantic Sun Conference were discussed,[7] it was not offered a spot in either for the 2013–2014 season.
Some teams began competing as associate members in various conferences. The men's volleyball team joined the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA). In 2013–14, the NJIT men's swimming and diving team began competing in the Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association (CCSA). In 2014, NJIT women's tennis became an associate member of the America East Conference and in 2014–15, soccer began play in the Sun Belt Conference.
After two years as an independent, NJIT announced on June 12, 2015, that it would become a full member of the Atlantic Sun Conference, now known as the ASUN Conference, beginning nineteen days later on July 1.[8] The university confirmed on June 12, 2020, its departure from the ASUN after five years to join the America East Conference beginning nineteen days later on July 1.[9] With the America East not sponsoring tennis for either men or women, both tennis teams were independent in the 2020–21 school year before joining the Southland Conference in July 2021.[10]
Men's soccer
In 1960, NJIT was NAIA men's soccer co-champions with Elizabethtown College. The title game went into four overtimes and ended in a 2–2 draw.
NCAA Division I men's basketball recognitions for futility
NJIT's men's basketball program set the record of the most winless team in D-I history in the 2007–2008 season with a losing streak of 51 games, breaking Sacramento State’s old D-I record. This acknowledgment has given NJIT's athletic program national recognition for futility. The unofficial NCAA record was set during NJIT's second NCAADivision I transitional season. It came despite a promising 5–24 debut Division I transitional season (2006–07) du4ing which the team won its first two matches (away and home).[11] With a new head coach (Jim Engles), an entirely new coaching staff and additional new recruits, the NJIT men's basketball team ended the 51-game losing streak on January 21, 2009, with a 61–51 win over the Bryant Bulldogs and finished the 2008–09 season with a 1–30 record. The Highlanders improved the following season (2009–10) and ended with a 10–21 record[12] during its first official NCAA Division I season.
NJIT currently holds three NCAA Division I men's basketball reclassifying records:[13]
Defeats in a winless season: 29 games)
Consecutive defeats in a season: 29 games
Consecutive defeats: 51 games
NCAA Division III men's basketball recognitions for best performances
Despite performing way below Division I standards during its reclassifying seasons from Division II, the Highlanders till this day still hold several Division III men's basketball records more than a decade after elevation from Division III. These records[14] include:
All-time best 3-point field-goal percentage in one season (67% by Reggie James in 1989).
All-time second best 3-point field-goal percentage in one season (63.1% by Chris Miles in 1987).
All-time third best 3-point field-goal percentage in one season (61.3% by Chris Miles in 1989).
All-time highest number of blocked shots in one season (198 by Tory Black in 1997).
All-time highest number of blocked shots per game in one season (7.62 by Tory Black in 1997).
All-time highest 3-point field-goal percentage (minimum 100 made) by a team in one season (62% on 124 of 200 shootings in 1989).
