As we go into today’s NCAA Final Four Basketball Championships, I was thinking about classic college basketball arenas. I’ve been a huge fan of UCLA basketball for as long as I can remember. I remember watching Bill Walton going 21-22 against then Memphis State to win the NCAA championships. So, it’s great to see the rematch between UCLA and Memphis.
I’ve always wanted to go and see a game at Pauley Pavillion, so this year I went down to L.A. and saw UCLA take on the mighty Oregon State Beavers, eventual owners of the record setting 0-18 Pac 10 record. I figure that this was probably my one chance to see Kevin Love in a UCLA uniform. I went and saw the Beavers because I’m a poor cheap bastard and the ticket was less than face value on Stub Hub. Although next time, I’ll splurge for a more expensive ticket because I ended up spending a couple of hundred bucks on gas, hotel rooms, and delicious L.A. fast food.
Pauley is showing her age, but what a fucking awesome arena. It has crappy access, bench seats, hardly any bathrooms, and almost no concession stands. The basketball floor is oddly distant from some of the seats. But it is home to 38 fucking national championship teams (Hoops, volleyball, and gymnastics)! John Wooden said that he was able to bring the young prospect Lew Alcindor to the brand new Pauley and convince him to come to UCLA (it probably didn’t hurt that UCLA was coming off back to back national championships).
So, has anybody been to an awesome historic college basketball arena?
I’m an NC State alum, and my time their coincided with the men’s basketball team moving out of historic Reynolds Coliseum and into the ESA (now the RBC center – it’s where the basketball team, as well as the Carolina Hurricanes play).
It may not have much fame outside of the state of NC (or at least ACC country), but Reynolds is definitely one of the historic arenas of the sport. It was the original home of the ACC tournament, from 1954-1966. It was the largest arena in the Southeast when it was built. I think it, along with Everett Case, ushered big-time college basketball into NC, where it has developed into the state religion.
Well, I’ve taken in plenty of games at Rupp Arena (check my location) and while I’ve never seen a game in Memorial Coliseum, I have been in it too many times to count.
I’ve been to Michigan State’s Jenison Fieldhouse many times. Even though basketball has moved to the Breslin Center, Jenison still gets plenty of use with gymnastics and wrestling and indoor track. It’s got a lot more soul than Breslin and back in the Earvin Johnson days the place would absolutely ROCK. One of the charms of the old place was that the press box was high on one side of the court, and the official scorer was high on the other. At halftime, if you looked up you could see a basket being pulled on a wire from the scorer’s table to the press box. I suppose now it’s all done by a computer connection but at some point that was a high-tech information system.
I was visiting my cousin who went to Duke one winter. We walked over to the athletic complex to see all those Cameron Crazies camped out to get tickets. This was at like 10pm and we just walked into the arena. It was dark and there wasn’t a game going on, but it was still cool.
I was so glad when they “raised the roof” on that place. I remember watching Big 8 / Big 12 games on TV and the roof was so low that I almost felt claustrophobic even in my own living room!
Of course, living in Jayhawk country, I’ve seen many a game in Allen Field House. You pretty much need earplugs when K-State or Missouri come to town. “Beware The Phog!”