A few hours ago, I was alerted to the existence of a Division II athletic program playing under the name “Wonder Boys.” This remains a developing situation, but here’s what we know so far:
- Arkansas Tech, located in Russellville, Arkansas, uses the name “Wonder Boys” to refer to its men’s athletic teams. For women’s sports, the school uses the name “Golden Suns,” which is also unique/original and is pretty different from Wonder Boys, showing Arkansas Tech can out-name opponents in a variety of ways. Don’t be surprised if, years from now, each of Arkansas Tech’s teams has its own name, and all of those names are better than 99% of those used by their competitors.
- John Tucker, a man born on tax day in 1901 (Was it tax day back then? Who can say?), is known as “The Original Wonder Boy” because in a 1919 football game, he scored two touchdowns and kicked both extra points in a 14-0 victory at the young age of 17, prompting newspapers to refer to the team as “Wonder Boys.”
- Tucker’s story gets wilder. He played at Arkansas Tech through 1924, then took five seasons off, then played quarterback at the University of Alabama (yes, ‘Bama) in 1930 and 1931, winning the Rose Bowl in 1930 (the NCAA lists Alabama as a co-national champion, but they were not called that at the time). Tucker was 29 years old when that game was played. He might have used as many as eight years of eligibility over his collegiate career. Wikipedia says nothing about what he did from 1925 through 1929.
- After Alabama, Tucker returned to Arkansas Tech, where he coached football, served as athletic director, and taught chemistry. He worked at the school until 1972.
- Arkansas Tech’s mascot is named Jerry the Bulldog, and yes, he’s a live mascot. Pictures here.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
