The Evansville College colors were elaborate and white, and by 1926 “Purple Aces” became the unique nickname that is now well recognized all over the country. The credit for the University of Evansville mascot “Ace Purple” can be accredited to a basketball coach whose team was overcome by Evansville College in the mid 1920s. After the game, the College of Louisville coach told Evansville coach John Harmon, “You didn’t have four Aces up your jacket, you had five!”

Harmon connected the quote to Evansville Courier sports editor Dan Scism. Both Harmon and Scism obvious they liked the sound of “Aces” better than “Pioneers,” the Evansville College nickname at that time. In 1926, with general support, the switch from “Pioneers” to “Aces” became authorized, but it wasn’t until the late 1960s that Ace Purple was shaped by local sports artiste, Larry Hill.

Ace was shaped in the image of a turn-of-the-century riverboat bettor to represent Evansville’s location on the banks of the Ohio Stream. But Ace Purple also wielded a club with a spike finished one end and carried a gun, and his scorn made him a less than likable charm. The University was not pleased overall, so Ace Purple the symbol soon vanished, but the team continued the Purple Aces. In 1977, when Evansville moved to Division I, first-year sports data director Greg Knipping saw the need to bring the charm to life as a mascot. He communicated Keith Butz, who had recently refurbished Purdue’s Boilermaker Pete. Butz twisted Ace Purple into a more likable charm, and Knipping persuaded the administration that his qualities of cunning, daring, quick wit and shrewd judgment made him an outstanding typical of the Purple Aces. Knipping was amongst those killed along with the Campus of Evansville basketball team in the December 13, 1977 plane crash.