The rebranding will include a move back to "Cadets" as the nickname for all Army athletic teams, according to a tweet from (Middletown, New York) Times-Herald Record reporter Sal Interdonato, who broke the story on the 18-month rebranding effort in November.
The "Black Knights" moniker has been in use for nearly a century to describe academy sports teams but became the official nickname throughout the athletic department in the late 1990s.
Army Times readers expressed support for "Cadets" and "Mules" as possible replacement nicknames when news of the rebranding first came out. Army and Nike, which provides athletic gear for West Point, have not revealed any details, but the news release offers a quote from Gen. Douglas MacArthur that served as "inspiration" for the design: "Reach into the future, yet never neglect the past."
"Cadets" was a widely used nickname for West Point athletic teams throughout the school's history, and mules have been an academy tradition since 1899, when an officer in Philadelphia decided to turn one into a mascot to counter the Naval Academy's goat on the sidelines of the Army-Navy football contest — the first one ever played outside a service academy campus. Army won, 17-5.
Video from the announcement will air live at www.goarmysports.com at 8 p.m. Eastern, according to the release, and feature the new uniform designs.
Kevin Lilley is the features editor of Military Times.