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The Denver Pioneers are the sports teams of the University of Denver (DU). They play in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, and have amassed 35 NCAA titles as of 2024, which is in the top 15 among all schools (24 in Skiing, 10 in men's ice hockey and 1 in men's lacrosse). Denver is a member of Summit League for men's and women's basketball, swimming and diving, men's and women's soccer, tennis and golf for both men and women, plus women's volleyball. Other DU teams play in various conferences in the sports that are not sponsored by The Summit. The men's ice hockey team is a charter member of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC), which formed in 2011 with play beginning in 2013. The lacrosse teams for men and women are members of the Big East Conference; the men began Big East play in the 2013–14 school year (2014 season), while the women left the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) after the 2016 lacrosse season. Men's and women's skiing compete in the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association, while the women's gymnastics team became an affiliate of the Big 12 Conference starting with the 2015–16 season. It was announced on October 31, 2025, that Denver would be leaving The Summit League to join the West Coast Conference beginning in the 2026-27 season.
The university has been fielding athletic teams since 1867. DU's Sport teams are known as the American pioneer. In the early years of competition from the 1860s to the early 1920s, Denver had no official nickname, but sportswriters of the day referred to Denver teams as the "Ministers" or "Fighting Parsons" in homage to the Methodist heritage of the school. Denver officially became the "Pioneers" in 1925, after the result of a student nickname contest, and that nickname has been in place ever since.
Today, DU operates a full NCAA Division I athletic program with a mix of sports in and around the $85 million Daniel Ritchie Center for Sports and Wellness, which was completed in 2000. In 2017, Denver finished #4 in the men's Division I Capital One Cup rankings, the highest finish in school history, and has also won the Learfield Cup in nine of the past 10 seasons, emblematic of the top non-football Division I athletic department in the nation.
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A member of the Summit League, the University of Denver sponsors teams in seven men's, eight women's, and one coed NCAA sanctioned sports: Skiing is technically a men's sport, but it has been co-ed since 1983; the ski team is a member of the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association. The ice hockey team is a member of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. The men's and women's lacrosse teams compete as associate members of the Big East Conference. The gymnastics team competes as an affiliate member of the Big 12 Conference.
The men's basketball team won the 2013 WAC regular season Co-Championship and also made it to the second round of the 2013 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) after defeating Ohio, but losing to Maryland in Round 2. Denver also appeared in the 2005 NIT, losing to San Francisco (after it won the Sun Belt West Division), and also appeared in the 1959 NIT, losing to NYU. The men's basketball team has yet to appear in the NCAA tournament, while the women's team has made one appearance in the NCAA tournament in 2001 as an at-large berth.
Denver's ice hockey alumni include over 85 NHL hockey players, including Hockey Hall of Famer Glenn Anderson and current NHLers, such as 2007 Calder Memorial Trophy nominee Paul Stastny, Jason Zucker, Trevor Moore, Scott Mayfield, Danton Heinen, Will Butcher, Henrik Borgstrom, Troy Terry, Dylan Gambrell. Previous DU players who starred in the NHL besides Anderson include Keith Magnuson, Craig Patrick, Cliff Koroll, Peter McNab and Kevin Dineen, who coached the Florida Panthers of the NHL until 2013. Legendary hockey coaches at Denver include four former NHL players: Murray Armstrong, Marshall Johnston, Ralph Backstrom and Jim Montgomery. George Gwozdecky, who coached the team for 19 seasons until 2013, is the only person in NCAA history to win Division I Men's Hockey National Championships as a player (with Wisconsin in 1977), an assistant coach (with Michigan State in 1986) and as a head coach (with Denver in 2004 and 2005). The current (2018) coach is David Carle.
In 2013, DU hockey left the WCHA to launch the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC). The new conference was formed as a direct reaction to the Big Ten Conference's announcement that it would start a men's hockey league in 2013. The six charter members of the NCHC—DU, Colorado College, Miami (OH), Minnesota–Duluth, North Dakota, and Omaha—have combined for 21 NCAA championships in the sport. These schools were soon joined by St. Cloud State and Western Michigan to bring the league's membership at launch to eight.
Women's lacrosse began as varsity sport in 1999, and DU played in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation through the 2016 season and joined the DU men in the Big East Conference starting with the 2017 season. Denver has progressed to seven NCAA Tournaments in its history, with the highest level of advancement being to the final four in 2023. In that 2023 tournament, DU (23-1) beat the USC Trojans and Albany Great Danes in Denver in the first and second rounds, respectively, and beat the North Carolina Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, NC in the quarterfinals, before losing to the eventual NCAA champion Northwestern Wildcats in the semi-finals in Cary, N.C.
Prior to that 2023 high water mark, Denver went to the Elite eight in 2022, beating USC and Michigan before losing to Maryland, and the Sweet 16 in each of its other three NCAA appearances in 2013, 2014 and 2018, beating Jacksonville University in the first round in 2013 and 2014 before losing to the Florida Gators in those consecutive years in Gainesville, Fla. In 2018, DU beat High Point University in the first round before losing to the Maryland Terrapins in the second round in College Park, Maryland.
Jamie Franks was named the program's 10th head coach in January 2015.
The DU women's soccer team advanced to the Sweet 16 of the 2012 NCAA Women's College Cup Tournament, and have also appeared in the 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2018 and 2022 NCAA Tournaments.
The women's gymnastics team has been to 17 straight NCAA Regional tournaments and finished a program-high 4th at the 2019 NCAA National Championships in their fourth appearance in the national finals. The team is a member of the Big 12 Conference after moving from its former home of the Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference in 2015.
The DU men's and women's tennis teams are consistently ranked in the top 35 to top 70 of all Division I collegiate tennis teams. The men's team has produced All-Americans, including a Men's Singles player ranked 11th in the country, and the team broke into the top 25 during the 2010 season. The men's team upset regional #1 seed Florida in the first round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament. The women's team has its lone NCAA tournament victory in 2017 over USC, and had one of its doubles team advance to the NCAA final eight for the first time in 2017.
The women's basketball team appeared in the 2001 NCAA Tournament, where it lost to Virginia Tech in the first round.
The women's golf team won the 2009 NCAA West Regional and later finished 5th in the finals of the 2009 NCAA tournament. DU also appeared in the 2008 (6th) and 2007 (14th) NCAA finals, as well as multiple NCAA regionals.
Other notable Denver sports alumni include former Major League Baseball player Dan Schatzeder, NBA basketball players Vince Boryla and Byron Beck, CFL Hall of Famer and former NFL football player Sam Etcheverry, 1952 US Olympic Long Jump Gold Medalist Jerome Biffle, former US Olympic Committee Executive Director Lyman Bingham, and MLS/US National soccer player Nat Borchers. San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich received a master's degree from DU but did not play any varsity sports there. Five-time world champion and US Olympic figure Skating star Michelle Kwan graduated from DU in 2009. Former DU basketball player David Adkins went on to greater fame outside of sports as comedian and actor Sinbad. Phil Heath a former DU basketball player in the early 2000s, won the Mr. Olympia Bodybuilding Championship seven consecutive times between 2011 and 2017.
Denver won one AIAW championship:
Denver has won three team national championships that were not bestowed by the NCAA:
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