Whether it’s a blowout victory for Duke in front of a rowdy Cameron Indoor Stadium or a big loss for a low-major team playing in one of the sport’s remote outposts, they will be there. In an era of mass transferring and unprecedented roster turnover that can leave fans bewildered as to who even plays for their favorite team, mascots never enter the portal.
While the person inside the suit may change, the costumed manifestation of school pride is always there patrolling the baseline, interacting with fans and channeling the unique school pride that makes college sports so authentic. Mascots aren’t just furry photo-ops. They are iconic symbols, and they are an institution in college basketball.
While they all serve essentially the same purpose, none are exactly the same or even based in obvious logic. Paydirt Pete at UTEP wears jeans and wields a pickaxe, which makes sense consider UTEP is the Miners. But then there’s the Stanford tree, who represents a school nicknamed the Cardinal.
What makes a good college basketball mascot is up for debate. For some, it may be the costume. For others, it may be the rituals or the connection to school history. But as with anything in sports, the best mascots is a topic that’s up for debate.
For this week’s Dribble Handoff, our writers are picking college basketball’s best mascots.
Saint Joseph’s games would not be complete without the antics of its Hawks mascot.
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Any list of college basketball’s best mascots has to start on Hawk Hill — where “The Hawk Will Never Die” is the official motto attached to The Hawk, Saint Joseph’s big-eyed bird that famously never stops flapping its wings from tip-off through the final buzzer.
Overtime games can be especially challenging.
I’ve sat courtside at Hagan Arena and seen it with my…
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