11/01/2026
In fall 1992, Davidson College was preparing to host the first of three consecutive NCAA Men’s College Cup final fours.
The dream of Wildcats coach Charlie Slagle and athletic department marketing director Pat Millen, both Davidson alumni, with support of then-athletic director Terry Holland, was to raise the profile of Division I soccer championship by making the small college town soccer’s version of Omaha, Nebraska, where the college baseball World Series is held every year. They pitched the NCAA and were granted the 1992 and 1993 events. They hosted in 1994 as well.
What they never expected was that the Wildcats soccer team, often good but never great, would advance to that first tournament on campus and turn the first official College Cup into the hottest ticket in the Carolinas.
That 1992 team and other Class of 2026 inductees to the Davidson College Athletics Hall of Fame, including former basketball head coach Bob McKillop, will be honored at halftime of the Davidson men’s basketball game against Rhode Island on Saturday.
As final four host, the Wildcats became an unlikely participant
