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The
Story of
the
Wonder
Boys
Our
men's
teams at
Tech are
known as
the
Wonder
Boys.
The name
Wonder
Boys
first
appeared
as a
proper
noun in
the
Arkansas
Gazette
on
November
17,
1920,
after a
13-0 win
over
what is
now
Henderson
State
University.
Up to
that
point,
the
men's
teams at
Tech had
been
known as
the
Aggies.
The name
Wonder
Boys
quickly
gained
popularity
and has
been a
part of
our
tradition
ever
since.
The best
player
on
Tech's
1920
football
team and
the man
known as
the
"Original
Wonder
Boy" is
John
Tucker.
Henry
Loesch,
the
sports
editor
of the
Arkansas
Gazette,
wrote in
describing
Tucker,
"Look
out for
him
before
he
starts,
for once
he is on
his way
brick
building,
rock
walls
and
other
immovable
bodies
but
slightly
impede
his
progress...this
Tucker
is so
good
that he
makes
the rest
of them
look
bad.
He's so
good
that it
is hard
to see
any one
else on
the
entire
field."
Tucker
went to
work at
Tech in
a
variety
of roles
-
including
coach,
teacher,
athletic
director,
chemistry
teacher
and
director
of
student
affairs
-
between
1925 and
1972.
Tucker
took a
brief
sabbatical
from
Tech to
attend
the
University
of
Alabama,
where he
played
on
Alabama's
1931
Rose
Bowl
team
that
defeated
Washington
State
University,
24-0.
After
his
stint at
Alabama,
Tucker
returned
to Tech
to serve
as the
head
coach of
the
Wonder
Boys
football
team
from
1933-41
and
again
from
1945-47.
In his
tenure
as the
Wonder
Boys
coach,
Tucker
won 77
games
and five
Arkansas
Intercollegiate
Conference
titles.
His .791
winning
percentage
still
stands
as the
best of
any
football
coach in
school
history.
Today,
two
buildings
on the
Tech
campus
- Tucker
Hall and
Tucker
Coliseum,
where
Tech's
volleyball,
men's
and
women's
basketball
teams
play -
are
named in
his
honor.
Tucker
was
first
inductee
from
Tech
into the
Arkansas
Sports
Hall of
Fame in
1962 and
he was
part of
the
first
class
inducted
into the
Arkansas
Tech
Hall of
Distinction
in 1965.
The
Story of
the
Golden
Suns
Tech's
women's
teams
are
known as
the
Golden
Suns.
That
name was
adopted
by a
vote
among
female
athletes
on
campus
in 1975.
Before
that,
AAU and
extramural
women's
teams
from
Tech has
been
known as
the
Wonder
Girls
and the
Wonderettes.
When
Tech
started
its
intercollegiate
athletics
program
for
women in
1977,
the name
Golden
Suns was
adopted.
Since
1977,
the name
Golden
Suns has
become
synonymous
with
excellence
in
women's
intercollegiate
athletics.
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