25 Most Incredible College BB Arenas

[CL82]

3. Princeton - Walking into the arena reminded me of Space Mountain in Disney.

 

[CL82]

For anyone asking about UConn, I don't think Gampel is really worthy ...

I have two words for you:

Enzo Patoni​

 

[HooperScooper]

I have two words for you:

Enzo Patoni​

Does he still get credit since all the tiles have now been replaced?

 

[Demo Square]

I got to actually play in college on at least 15 of those historic courts, including at Tulane where Pistol Pete scored 69 points against me, everyone standing. Ha!

But as cool as all the listed incredible college courts were/are? The old Madison Square Garden on 8th Ave. @ 50th street in NYC was THE College Basketball Mecca from 1919 on. It should be at the top of this famous college hoops venue list.

When I first played there & scored, legendary MSG announcer John Condon said, "That was "Father Demo?" I almost cried running down the court. I spent my entire youth in that building (college doubleheaders & the old terrible 50's/early 60's Knicks) or scalping tickets outside under the marquee. Tickets were just $2.50 for a kid if you had a GO school ID card. I scalped enough to pay for a night of junk food. Was just three subways stops from my family's apartment. Ha!

And who can forget the Old Boston Garden? They had a guy come in pre-game & explain to visiting teams where the famous Parquee' deadspots were. It was all BS of course in favor of the home teams. Also, they only had four shower heads in that freezing, tiny visitors locker room! Cold water!

But if you grew up watching those incredible Celtics teams from the early 50's on as I did, making your first outside game shot in that building gave me some serious chickenskin. What a feeling in that hoops shrine.

Old MSG & Old Boston Garden both should be on the list (posthumously, of course. Ha!).

Father Demo

I loved many of those older campus gyms. UNC's old Carmichael Gym was a shooter's paradise. Pennsylvania's Palestra was a real beautiful favorite as was Curry Hicks Cage up at Amherst with its glass pyramid rooftop & 'on-top-of-you' seating. Loved the abuse, I guess! -father demo-

 

[Demo Square]

It's very nice, but I think any NBA arena should be disqualified from being considered a "college arena". Another reason MSG shouldn't be on the list.

For anyone asking about UConn, I don't think Gampel is really worthy and XL certainly isn't.

HuskyHawk,

Agree with you in most cases. But the OLD 50th Street pre-1968 MSG was the venue that put college basketball on the map in 1919. Ned Irish built it to bring together the then-brand new passions of college hoops, big-time gambling & an entertainment venue for things like Barnum & Bailey's Circus & in 1947, the Knicks. It was so smokey in there from the gamblers cigars, sometimes it was tough to see the score or time on the overhead scoreboard.

The Old MSG hosted early NCAA tournaments, the famous Christmas ECAC Holiday Festival, & so many big-time rivalries (like Princeton w/ Bill Bradley vs. Michigan & Cazzie Russell) & legendary teams like undeafeated CCNY (1950's NIT & NCAA champions).

Thursday night college double headers were the best, every game felt that young, campus spirit, even if it was NYU & Columbia in their heyday's. Affordable for college kids. Now UConn brings that back whenever they go to the new MSG. We're an institution at MSG.

It was/is the Mecca of college basketball & should be at least asterisked on any great, vintage colllege hoops venue list, IMO.

Father Demo

And hoops at MSG inspired many NYC-area youths to play hoops & dominate college rosters for many decades. MSG put college basketball on the map first. As did Pauley Pavilion & the Forum on the West Coast later.

 

[August_West]

Hinkle is great, wish better basketball was being played there right now.

Yeah but butler stinks and we should be at whatever corn barn Iowa st plays at /s

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Yeah but butler stinks and we should be at whatever corn barn Iowa st plays at /s

Yeah we could be keep playing at Butler in front of 6-8k or ISU in front of 12-14k, probably 14k for us in a barn designed to hold in the noise.

 

[August_West]

Yeah we could be keep playing at Butler in front of 6-8k or ISU in front of 12-14k, probably 14k for us in a barn designed to hold in the noise.

Yet WE. Didn’t average 14k in XL in a Championship season.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

This jabroni wouldn’t know a patoni tile if it flaked into his eye

 

[alphasigko]

Hard to believe that Gampel did not make it, especially since they included NM's "The Pit"

 

[ctkaiser]

Didn't bother to read the list, but I always have really liked Yale's court. Most years I'll go to a game and get some Modern on the way home.

I don't know anything about the court but I know and love Modern. Can't go wrong there.

 

[August_West]

Hard to believe that Gampel did not make it, especially since they included NM's "The Pit"

Gampel would be there if we played all our home games there. Instead we play half our home games in the rancid fryer grease XL center. But I’ll live with it because the trade off is that we have a pretty much top 5 paid coach in hoops because the state pays the bills. Better than being in B12 at least.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

@Greathusky

No joke, this guy was one of my top inspirations for me to get out and check out local D1 games. which in turn, opened up my interest in mid-major basketball as a whole, which then inspired me to start my blog.

Rose Hill is absolutely fantastic, especially if you are into historic buildings. Back in February, I wrote a piece about the electricity in that building since Fordham basketball has been on its run.

I still haven't been to a Yale game yet (the Friday night games correlate with the worst traffic from work (Greenwich) to New Haven...90+ minutes, but overall, Yale has beautiful facilities. The Yale Bowl, Ingalls Rink, Westville Music Bowl...

Westville Music Bowl is next to Yale Bowl, but not a Yale facility.

Morse Recital Hall and Woolsey Hall are good for music. And there are various smaller others.

John Lee Amphitheater in Payne Whitney Gymnasium is an enjoyable venue for a basketball game.

 

[ConnZag3]

Quite a few. Think Colorado still does but most are smaller venues like Iona, LaSalle, Manhattan, Fairfield Alumni Hall, Colgate...

Pretty sure Maples Pavilion at Stanford does still but I think that's the only other P6 school. Otherwise yeah pretty much any D1 school that has a gym resembling a high school would too. Winthrop, St Thomas, USC Upstate are a few more I recall off my arenas journey list