Even reconstructed, OSU's arena remains nation's best
STILLWATER, Okla. -- Come inside, please, where that Great Plains wind won't get you, and take a little tour with us. Walk through this wonderful building, not just college basketball's finest venue, but through a good hunk of basketball history. Really, come.
See that office over there, well that's where Mr. Henry Iba -- yes, the one in the Hall of Fame -- used to sit and study the game, and where he dreamed up a few little concepts such as the motion offense, the passing attack and the basic principals of man-to-man defense.
And over here, near the sideline, that's where Iba used to put his teams, maybe one of his two national championship squads, through three a days so physically demanding that sometimes the balls of their feet would be ripped off. That meant he would put them through sprints, too, for good measure.
On that other bench, the visiting one, that's where guys like Phog Allen, Tex Winters or Ralph Miller used to coach. The floor there, it's the exact same maple wood playing surface that was installed when the building opened in 1938, a floor everyone from Wilt Chamberlain to Marcus Fizer has played on.
The players who moved across that floor read like a who's who of the game, but the best stories about the hardwood was when the floor moved on its own. Or least shook from all that noise 6,381 Cowboys fans used to make. This place was so loud some nights that even when the Cowboys mascot shot blanks out of his pistol, no one heard it.
There is more, too, plenty of wrestling stories from Oklahoma State's 30 national titles and all other sorts of historical stuff, but those aren't what made this building, now called Gallagher-Iba Arena, college basketball's best.
It's the unparalleled history, the old school charm, the fervency of the fans and the total game experience that made this little bandbox on the open plains basketball's hallowed grounds.
"This is a very special building," said Eddie Sutton, Oklahoma State's current coach and a player for Iba from 1956-58.
That special building is now twice its original size, part of the $55 million "Raise The Roof" renovation campaign which not only pushed capacity to 13,611 but modernized everything inside a place that was once dubbed "The Madison Square Garden of the Plains."
Although work crews are still finishing parts of the refurbishing, Gallagher-Iba is officially rededicated Monday night in a game against Iowa State (9 p.m. ET).
The beauty of this project is that the history and ambience remain. This is one sacred spot in the development of college basketball that has not been lost to a modern multi-purpose cookie cutter arena. And while there is much consternation that the expanded building will lose some of the unique feel and noise of the original, much of the charm is still there.
"If they were going to go out and build a brand new building I was going to be opposed to it," said Sutton. "I wanted it right where it was. It's such an historic place and its, if not in the middle of campus, right where all the students can walk to it. I've been the head coach at schools with great buildings (Arkansas, Kentucky) and this is the best place.
"I could have been really selfish and said, 'man, let me keep this little old gym, it's so intimidating.'"
But renovation had to be done for the modernization of OSU athletics. Football needed new locker rooms not to mention a video and a weight room. Wrestling had an unsuitable practice room. And there was never a good central spot for academic support services until now.
Plus, those luxury boxes up top and 7,000 additional seats don't hurt the bottom line. So Sutton got behind the renovation, realizing it was good for the program in the long haul. But only after he was convinced that the original feel of Gallagher-Iba would remain.
Only time and the Bedlam Series will truly tell, but what was accomplished here is what every school faced with facility decisions should consider. Too often colleges abandon the historical basketball arenas to build sterile if plush facilities.
Lost and gone are Kentucky's Memorial Stadium, Ohio State's St. John's Arena, Wisconsin's Fieldhouse and North Carolina's Carmichael Arena.
Not so here. From the court, Gallagher-Iba seems very much unchanged, except the roof is higher and seven thousand upper deck seats have been added. Because the seats rise so steeply into the sky, it is, at least empty, even more intimidating.
Construction crews never knocked down the original structure, they simply built a bigger frame around it and then took the roof off. Thus the original bricks, the exterior design and that historic floor, remain.
The only question left is will the roar be the same?
"It's the loudest of any place I've ever coached," said Sutton, who, in 929 games over 31 seasons, has coached just about everywhere. "I'm anxious to see how loud it can get. We may have lost a little with the higher roof, it's hard to tell now."
What isn't lost is the history. Sutton can still point to the spots on the court from where he scored 18 points the night in 1957 when the Cowboys beat then-No. 1 Kansas 56-54. The Jayhawks had a pretty good center going for them back then, his name was Wilt Chamberlain.
"The win was so big the school president gave everyone the next day off," Sutton said. "You won't see a president do that again."
Just as you likely won't see a renovation like this happen again. Too bad. The new Gallagher-Iba opens Monday, appropriately more modern, but still with much of the same charm and wonderful history. It's the saving of the venue that tops our list of the best arenas in college basketball.
2. Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke: Classy, full of old school ambiance and beautifully set on the Duke campus. Television has made student fans and their Krzyzewskiville Camp Site famous. An environment that is often copied but never duplicated.
3. The Palestra, Penn: You want old, this Philadelphia landmark has a game clock that still ticks and a banner celebrating a 1908 Ivy League Title. It was home to scores of Big Five doubleheaders that helped an entire city fall in love with the game.
4. Phog Allen Fieldhouse, Kansas: Seats over 15,000 but still feels like a gym, with steep seating, a track running underneath the bleachers and windows that let the sun shine in.
5. Williams Arena, Minnesota: One of kind old Midwestern barn with a raised floor, three decks of intimidating throaty fans and 20-foot banners of old stars such as Kevin McHale in tight shorts staring down at you.
6. McArthur Court, Oregon: The best of the West rocks even when the Ducks are middle of the pack. Small, but with balconies, it can shake with noise.
7. The Pit, New Mexico: On top of the wonderful ambiance and passionate crowds is a sign painted on the wall of the long tunnel players run down to get the court. It reminds you that you're are a mile above sea level and if the Lobos don't get you the thin air will.
8. Rupp Arena, Kentucky: While not aesthetically overwhelming, when the 'Cats take the floor under eight championship banners and over 24,000 stand to cheer, the power of the program simply roars down upon you.
9. Hilton Coliseum, Iowa State: It's a big block of concrete sticking out of the frozen winter ground in Ames, but statistically proven to provide the nation's greatest home court advantage. Even when the Cyclones have been bad, Hilton Magic has made them winners.
10. Freedom Hall, Louisville: Almost perfectly constructed so a throng of 20,000 retains an intimate feel. It has played host to more NCAA Championships than any other venue.
| Jan. 8, 2001 By Dan Wetzel SportsLine.com Senior Writer |
See that office over there, well that's where Mr. Henry Iba -- yes, the one in the Hall of Fame -- used to sit and study the game, and where he dreamed up a few little concepts such as the motion offense, the passing attack and the basic principals of man-to-man defense.
| Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton also played at the Gallagher-Iba Arena from 1956-58.(Allsport) |
On that other bench, the visiting one, that's where guys like Phog Allen, Tex Winters or Ralph Miller used to coach. The floor there, it's the exact same maple wood playing surface that was installed when the building opened in 1938, a floor everyone from Wilt Chamberlain to Marcus Fizer has played on.
The players who moved across that floor read like a who's who of the game, but the best stories about the hardwood was when the floor moved on its own. Or least shook from all that noise 6,381 Cowboys fans used to make. This place was so loud some nights that even when the Cowboys mascot shot blanks out of his pistol, no one heard it.
There is more, too, plenty of wrestling stories from Oklahoma State's 30 national titles and all other sorts of historical stuff, but those aren't what made this building, now called Gallagher-Iba Arena, college basketball's best.
It's the unparalleled history, the old school charm, the fervency of the fans and the total game experience that made this little bandbox on the open plains basketball's hallowed grounds.
"This is a very special building," said Eddie Sutton, Oklahoma State's current coach and a player for Iba from 1956-58.
That special building is now twice its original size, part of the $55 million "Raise The Roof" renovation campaign which not only pushed capacity to 13,611 but modernized everything inside a place that was once dubbed "The Madison Square Garden of the Plains."
Although work crews are still finishing parts of the refurbishing, Gallagher-Iba is officially rededicated Monday night in a game against Iowa State (9 p.m. ET).
The beauty of this project is that the history and ambience remain. This is one sacred spot in the development of college basketball that has not been lost to a modern multi-purpose cookie cutter arena. And while there is much consternation that the expanded building will lose some of the unique feel and noise of the original, much of the charm is still there.
"If they were going to go out and build a brand new building I was going to be opposed to it," said Sutton. "I wanted it right where it was. It's such an historic place and its, if not in the middle of campus, right where all the students can walk to it. I've been the head coach at schools with great buildings (Arkansas, Kentucky) and this is the best place.
"I could have been really selfish and said, 'man, let me keep this little old gym, it's so intimidating.'"
But renovation had to be done for the modernization of OSU athletics. Football needed new locker rooms not to mention a video and a weight room. Wrestling had an unsuitable practice room. And there was never a good central spot for academic support services until now.
Plus, those luxury boxes up top and 7,000 additional seats don't hurt the bottom line. So Sutton got behind the renovation, realizing it was good for the program in the long haul. But only after he was convinced that the original feel of Gallagher-Iba would remain.
Only time and the Bedlam Series will truly tell, but what was accomplished here is what every school faced with facility decisions should consider. Too often colleges abandon the historical basketball arenas to build sterile if plush facilities.
Lost and gone are Kentucky's Memorial Stadium, Ohio State's St. John's Arena, Wisconsin's Fieldhouse and North Carolina's Carmichael Arena.
Not so here. From the court, Gallagher-Iba seems very much unchanged, except the roof is higher and seven thousand upper deck seats have been added. Because the seats rise so steeply into the sky, it is, at least empty, even more intimidating.
Construction crews never knocked down the original structure, they simply built a bigger frame around it and then took the roof off. Thus the original bricks, the exterior design and that historic floor, remain.
The only question left is will the roar be the same?
"It's the loudest of any place I've ever coached," said Sutton, who, in 929 games over 31 seasons, has coached just about everywhere. "I'm anxious to see how loud it can get. We may have lost a little with the higher roof, it's hard to tell now."
What isn't lost is the history. Sutton can still point to the spots on the court from where he scored 18 points the night in 1957 when the Cowboys beat then-No. 1 Kansas 56-54. The Jayhawks had a pretty good center going for them back then, his name was Wilt Chamberlain.
"The win was so big the school president gave everyone the next day off," Sutton said. "You won't see a president do that again."
Just as you likely won't see a renovation like this happen again. Too bad. The new Gallagher-Iba opens Monday, appropriately more modern, but still with much of the same charm and wonderful history. It's the saving of the venue that tops our list of the best arenas in college basketball.
The Top 10
1. Gallagher-Iba Arena, Oklahoma State: No facility can match its combination of noise, history and charm. Renovation may slightly alter game environment, but until that's proven, it remains No. 1.2. Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke: Classy, full of old school ambiance and beautifully set on the Duke campus. Television has made student fans and their Krzyzewskiville Camp Site famous. An environment that is often copied but never duplicated.
3. The Palestra, Penn: You want old, this Philadelphia landmark has a game clock that still ticks and a banner celebrating a 1908 Ivy League Title. It was home to scores of Big Five doubleheaders that helped an entire city fall in love with the game.
4. Phog Allen Fieldhouse, Kansas: Seats over 15,000 but still feels like a gym, with steep seating, a track running underneath the bleachers and windows that let the sun shine in.
5. Williams Arena, Minnesota: One of kind old Midwestern barn with a raised floor, three decks of intimidating throaty fans and 20-foot banners of old stars such as Kevin McHale in tight shorts staring down at you.
6. McArthur Court, Oregon: The best of the West rocks even when the Ducks are middle of the pack. Small, but with balconies, it can shake with noise.
7. The Pit, New Mexico: On top of the wonderful ambiance and passionate crowds is a sign painted on the wall of the long tunnel players run down to get the court. It reminds you that you're are a mile above sea level and if the Lobos don't get you the thin air will.
8. Rupp Arena, Kentucky: While not aesthetically overwhelming, when the 'Cats take the floor under eight championship banners and over 24,000 stand to cheer, the power of the program simply roars down upon you.
9. Hilton Coliseum, Iowa State: It's a big block of concrete sticking out of the frozen winter ground in Ames, but statistically proven to provide the nation's greatest home court advantage. Even when the Cyclones have been bad, Hilton Magic has made them winners.
10. Freedom Hall, Louisville: Almost perfectly constructed so a throng of 20,000 retains an intimate feel. It has played host to more NCAA Championships than any other venue.
