Rivalries with neighboring Santa Clara University and Saint Mary's College of California have their origins in this early period.

Three USF alumni participated in the 2016 Summer Olympics - Israeli long-distance runner Maor Tiyouri, basketball player John Cox and synchronized swimmer Mariya Koroleva.

Future major leaguer Aaron Poreda pitched for the Diamond Dons, finishing his freshman 2005 season with a 2.16 ERA, the fifth-lowest in team history and third-best in the WCC, and his hits-per-9-innings ratio of 6.48 was second-best in the conference.

[citation needed] USF began receiving reports of sexual misconduct and psychological abuse from the baseball team in late 2021, attributing these allegations eventually to assistant coach Troy Nakamura and firing him in January 2023.

During his tenure as head coach, he accumulated 373 career wins and has been inducted into the university's athletic hall of fame.

The men's basketball team have won three national titles: the 1949 NIT under Pete Newell and the 1955 and 1956 NCAA championships under Phil Woolpert.

USF retained its status as a basketball powerhouse into the 1970s and early 80s, holding the distinction of being a "major" program in a "mid-major" conference (the WCC having declined somewhat in stature since the 1960s).

In 1977, led by All-American center Bill Cartwright, the Dons went 29–0 and were regarded as the #1 team in the nation in both major polls before dropping their last two games.

During the subsequent investigation, Dailey admitted taking a no-show job at a business owned by a prominent non-sports USF donor.

John Lo Schiavo announced on July 29, 1982, that he was suspending the basketball program—the first time a school had shut down a major sport under such circumstances.

The move was applauded by several members of the coaching fraternity,[12] as the Dailey matter revealed a program that was, in the words of San Francisco Chronicle sportswriter Glenn Dickey, "totally out of control.

On March 9, 2016, after eight seasons during which the Dons were unable to do more than break even (127-127), athletic director Scott Sidwell fired Walters.

Compared to local rivals Santa Clara and Saint Mary's, USF's football teams were historically not as strong.

However, the Dons entered college football lore by going undefeated in 1951 and producing three NFL hall of famers (Gino Marchetti, Ollie Matson, and Bob St. Clair).

Due to the associated financial burden on the school that a bowl bid would have alleviated, USF's finest football team ever was its last at the major college level (now Division I FBS).

Kuharich, at times, would delegate recruiting responsibilities to his freshman coach, Brad Lynn, who had little to offer prospective players in the way of scholarship inducements beyond tuition and room and board in an old ROTC barracks.

Chess • Colombini • Conte • Cronan • Dando • Dawson • DeBernardi Dwyer • Giorgi • Henneberry • Hillig • Holm • Huxley • Kearney Madden • Marchetti • Matson • McLaughlin • McMahon • Mergen • Montero Monti • Moriarity • Peacock • Retzloff • Roland • Sachs • Sakowski Scudero • Schaeffer • Skalla • Slajchert • Springer • St. Clair • Stephens Thiel • Thomas • Toler • Tringali • Weibel • Welsh • Whitney • Wilwerding The men's golf team has won 11 West Coast Conference championships: 1970–71, 1981–84, 1986, 1988, 1990, 2009, 2011.

[17] Men's soccer is USF's most successful program, earning five national titles, including a co-championship with Penn State in 1949.

USF participates in the following club sports: golf, fencing, boxing, rifle, tennis, karate, soccer and lacrosse.