ACC hoops arenas, current and past

[Reilly]

Plans to turn Cole at Maryland into an indoor football practice facility.

Lefty says to put up a little plaque for him:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-terps-athletic-complex-20141117-story.html#

So what's the entire list of ACC hoops arenas, and who's been where and has memories of what?

At Duke, of course, there's been only one (though with two names, I guess).

[Kedsy]

So what's the entire list of ACC hoops arenas, and who's been where and has memories of what?

In addition to Cameron, I've watched games at Cole (Md), U Hall (UVa), Reynolds (NCSU), and Carmichael (UNC), none of which are currently used for men's basketball. For Virginia and UNC, I went to the games with former DBR honcho James Armstrong. I was also supposed to go with him to Littlejohn (Clemson), but Durham got hit with a snowstorm so I bailed (hangs head in shame).

Of course, each experience has its own stories (especially Cole and Carmichael), but I don't currently have time to relate them.

[devildeac]

Plans to turn Cole at Maryland into an indoor football practice facility.

Lefty says to put up a little plaque for him:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-terps-athletic-complex-20141117-story.html#

So what's the entire list of ACC hoops arenas, and who's been where and has memories of what?

At Duke, of course, there's been only one (though with two names, I guess).

Hmmm, $155M for a Cole make-over. I read the article and how it was being funded but still scratching my head how their athletic department could be financial straits so bad that they'd leave the ACC, forfeiting about $30M in fees, and now decide they're gonna proceed with this project. I wonder if would be better if they just let the terps riot in Cole after a big rivalry win over, say Iowa, and burn the place down and collect the insurance money instead. (Kidding, of course. Mostly:rolleyes:.)

[OldPhiKap]

Carmichael -- very intense, great atmosphere.

Dean Dome -- very detached feeling, loud when prompted but kinda sterile when not.

Littlejohn (after renovations) -- really nice facility; sharp angles of stairs makes it like a pit (mean that in a very good way) -- great place to see a game.

Thriller Dome (before renovations) -- in need of repair; kinda like a big high school gym; better than Dean Dome by a lot.

[superdave]

Hmmm, $155M for a Cole make-over. I read the article and how it was being funded but still scratching my head how their athletic department could be financial straits so bad that they'd leave the ACC, forfeiting about $30M in fees, and now decide they're gonna proceed with this project. I wonder if would be better if they just let the terps riot in Cole after a big rivalry win over, say Iowa, and burn the place down and collect the insurance money instead. (Kidding, of course. Mostly:rolleyes:.)

A certain Under Armour CEO is footing the bill: http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-terps-athletic-complex-20141117-story.html

[AIRFORCEDUKIE]

Though I've never seen a live game in Reynolds I have played in it multiple times. From what I remember in my High School days it was a good shooting gym and was intimate. I think NC State still plays one game a year there or did they stop doing that entirely? I did a basketball camp there and we were on the court a lot, it was a fun experience.

Same goes for Cameron except I have played on it and I have seen a live game. I'm still saving up for The Fantasy Camp or whatever it is. Its on the bucket list.

[blazindw]

I've seen ACC basketball games at 4 arenas: Cameron, the Dean Dome, BankUnited Center and the Comcast Center. I've also seen games at Greensboro Coliseum (Duke-Ohio Snake) and PNC Arena (NCAA Tourney). I've wanted to see games at a few other arenas, but not too interested in going for a non-Duke game...at least, I wouldn't go out of my way to go unless Duke was playing.

[bleudiable]

Plans to turn Cole at Maryland into an indoor football practice facility.

Lefty says to put up a little plaque for him:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-terps-athletic-complex-20141117-story.html#

So what's the entire list of ACC hoops arenas, and who's been where and has memories of what?

At Duke, of course, there's been only one (though with two names, I guess).

In the ACC rivalry heyday, every arena was great, including tournament venues. My personal faves:
Cameron (pre-brass rails)
Carmichael (there's a basketball arena in that building?)
Reynolds (Is is true that Everett Case got Cameron's blueprints and added two struts in each endzone?)
Winston Salem Coliseum (actually even better for minor league hockey)
Alexander at Tech (loved the theatre in the round feel)
plus:
original Greensboro Coliseum--at 15K, the largest place around and yet still intimate.
original Charlotte Coliseum--used to attend Lefty's Davidson games and the old North-South doubleheaders at the old Jiffy-Pop.

The only modern arena I like now is the LJV in Winston Salem. Just big enough, just intimate enough; very much like the old Greensboro. Something like that in Durham would serve Duke and NCCU well for a few big games against non-local rivals.

[devildeac]

A certain Under Armour CEO is footing the bill: http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-terps-athletic-complex-20141117-story.html

Thanks! At least he's not writing the whole check. Gotta save some Franklins for some more ugly UA unis:rolleyes:.

[Olympic Fan]

In the ACC rivalry heyday, every arena was great, including tournament venues. My personal faves:
Cameron (pre-brass rails)
Carmichael (there's a basketball arena in that building?)
Reynolds (Is is true that Everett Case got Cameron's blueprints and added two struts in each endzone?)Winston Salem Coliseum (actually even better for minor league hockey)
Alexander at Tech (loved the theatre in the round feel)
plus:
original Greensboro Coliseum--at 15K, the largest place around and yet still intimate.
original Charlotte Coliseum--used to attend Lefty's Davidson games and the old North-South doubleheaders at the old Jiffy-Pop.

The only modern arena I like now is the LJV in Winston Salem. Just big enough, just intimate enough; very much like the old Greensboro. Something like that in Durham would serve Duke and NCCU well for a few big games against non-local rivals.

Reynolds was started before WWII. As originally designed, it was almost a carbon copy of Duke Indoor Stadium -- at that time, the newest, biggest on-campus arena around.

But not long after the steel support beams went up, came Pearl Harbor ... and construction was suspended for the duration.

Flash forward to the spring of 1946, when Case arrives just as construction is about to resume. Coming from Indiana high school circles, he told State authorities that "the school with the biggest gym hosts the postseason tournament." He demanded that Reynolds be expanded. But with the frame already in place, the only economically feasible way to expand was to extend the end zones. So Reynolds ended up with 3-4,000 on the sidelines and 8.000 lousy seats in the end zone. But those seats -- 4,000 more than Duke -- were there and soon State was hosting the conference tournament (through 1966) and hosting the NCAA Tournament (I thin k the last time was 1982).

Carmichael is also an odd story. UNC badly need to replace Woollen Gym, but in the early 1960s, the legislature was turned off by the gambling and cheating scandals a UNC. The governor at the time (Terry Sanford) decided to de-emphasize basketball at the state universities. The Board of Governors cut back schedules, recruiting and funding for basketball. They weren't about to fund modern new arena. So the UNC partisans in the legislature (then, as now, a large part of the body) came up was a subterfuge -- the new facility was sold as an "addition" to Woollen. It shared one wall with the old facility and most of the locker rooms (all except the home team's) were in the old building. Carmichael was actually quite a clever design, considering the limitations imposed by the times.

Of course, Duke Indoor Stadium -- now Cameron has always been the gold standard for ACC basketball arenas. We should give homage to its forgotten designer -- African-American architech Julian Abele, who took the design of the Palestra in Philadelphia and improved it. Abele actually designed most of Duke's West Campus. Because of his race, his contributions were hidden for a long, long time.

But we should celebrate him now.

PS I've been lucky enough to experience almost every ACC arena, except a couple of the new ones (Miami, Pitt). I still miss the old ones -- I much prefer Cole to Comcast, Carmichael to the Smith Center and Reynolds a million times better than the RBC or whatever it's called today. I agree the Joel the best of the new arenas and a big step up from the old Winston-Salem Memorial Dump ... I mean Coliseum. I was lucky enough to attend Duke's last visit to Clemson's Memorial Gym (the one before Littlejohn) ... it was a bit like Card Gym, only instead of the track running around the top, it had a stage at one end ... and it was remarkably dark. I was told that one of Bubas' early teams came out for pregame warmups wearing miner's helmets. I didn't see that, but I did see that after that last visit (I think it was 1968) Bubas came out alone after doing his postgame interviews, got down on his knees and kissed the Tiger painted on the floor at centercourt, goodbye.

[hurleyfor3]

I still miss the old ones -- I much prefer Cole to Comcast, Carmichael to the Smith Center and Reynolds a million times better than the RBC or whatever it's called today.

Maybe about 20% of the seats in Reynolds were good. If you were a typical student or rank-and-file fan, the sightlines were horrible. As you wrote, but as someone who's not well-connected to tickets I don't miss it.

[Reilly]

I have sat in the back of the endzone seats at Reynolds for a Duke-State game. A long, long way away from the court.

Cassell Coliseum at VT is very dark -- don't understand why they can't figure out how to rig some lights over the crowd.

U-Hall at UVa had a bad design with the court in the middle of the circular design -- front row very low and still far away from the court.

Cole was a big, fun bldg.

Been to Joel. Unimpressed at the time just b/c it was new, not realizing worse new ones would come along.

JPJ at UVa is nice as far as being clean and corporate and NBA feeling. Doesn't feel collegiate to me, however.

[DU82]

I've been in the following ACC arenas (-jk has a couple on me) in rough chronological order:


Cameron - still the gold standard. Best sight-lines and intimacy. Needs more bathrooms. :-) I'll admit to some bias regarding this one.
Cole - for a bigger arena, it felt intimate and close to the court. The sunken bowl style (enter at top and go down) helped the feel. However, when I was first there in 1982, they had deferred maintenance and it looked it. Dirty/dingy, with outdated facilities (think the old bathroom at WW.) Had they kept up with things, then they wouldn't have needed to build the Comcast Center.
Reynolds - Loud, but a terrible place to watch a game. Terrible sightlines, even right behind the bench, because the upper deck came almost all the way to the court, and you have the overhang so close. I think the renovations that are planned will really help their women's team.
Littlejohn - again, with the sunken layout, a good place to see a game. (Once I stood for a game in the end zone student section. That was interesting, and fun!)
Carmichael - was there for the last time the Duke men played there (and won), and more before/after the renovation for women's games. I agree with OF, not a bad layout and feel. Before the renovations, you could see the "old" carolina blue color, which had a lot more green in it than the blue shade they've stolen from Columbia.
U-Hall - Terrible sight-lines. The round shape meant the "best" seats, at center court, were the furthest away. The seats right behind the bench were terrible, since unless you were in the front row, you couldn't see through the people in front of you. (Much like the three rows of chairs in the end zones of Cameron.) JPJ was a big improvement.
Joel - For a modern arena, fairly intimate. Not a lot of frills, which actually helps the general seating.
UNC Student Center - Good for 1987, showing its age now. Ignoring the obvious negatives (color, fake banners, etc.) it really hasn't aged well. Narrow concourses, poor quality seats, and limited chances for improvements. The sight-lines downstairs are decent, but upstairs is way too far from the court to see things well.
Leon County - Only there once, and my seat was right behind the bench, so I thought it was fine. This was before recent renovations.
Comcast - Nice, typical modern arena but not very distinctive other than the steep end zone. It's a better size/fit for a campus arena than the UNC Center.
JPJ - Well done modern arena. Probably the only new campus arena that's an improvement over what it replaced.
ESA/RBC/PNC - Typical pro arena. Seats too far away, but nice amenities.

[jimsumner]

The N.C. State women still play in Reynolds, as the Carolina women still play in Carmichael.

State is going to renovate Reynolds next season I believe and the plan is for State to play its home games at Broughton High School.

[-jk]

I'll up the ante to my total (not just ACC) basketball venue list, though some names have changed and many are no longer standing.

I think I have DU82 by a bit on basketball venues, but he has me by a ton on athletic venues overall. I'm sure Oly and Jim Sumner have me by a lot, as did my mother.

Cameron
UNC: Carmichael
UNC: Dean Dome
NCSU: Reynolds
NCSU: RBC
Wake: Memorial (old)
Wake: Lawrence Joel

UVA: University Hall
UVA: John Paul Jones
UMd: Cole
UMd: Comcast
Clemson: Littlejohn
Ga Tech: Alexander

NC: Greensboro Coliseum - through a couple renovations
NC: Charlotte Coliseum - the one on Independence
NC: Charlotte Coliseum - the Airport one
NC: Charlotte Coliseum - the Uptown one

MA: Boston TD Banknorth Garden
NY: NYC Madison Square Garden
NY: Syracuse Carrier Dome (pre-acc membership)
NJ: Meadowlands
NJ: Princeton Jadwin
PA: Philadelphia Palestra
PA: Philadelphia Spectrum
PA: Philadelphia Whatever-bank Center
DC: Capital Centre (Landover, MD)
DC: Verizon Center

SC: Greenville BiLo Center
GA: Atlanta Omni Coliseum
GA: Atlanta Georgia Dome
FL: St Petersburg Tropicana Field
FL: Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena

TN: Vanderbilt Memorial Gymnasium
TN: UT Thompson–Boling Arena
KY: Rupp Arena
OH: Cincinnati Riverfront
IN: Notre Dame Joyce/ACC (pre-acc membership)
IN: Indianapolis Hoosier/RCA Dome
IN: Indianapolis Lucas Oil Stadium
MN: Minneapolis Humphrey Metrodome

TX: Dallas Reunion Arena
TX: San Antonio Alamodome
TX: Houston Reliant Stadium
KS: Phog Allen
KS: Kansas City Kemper
CO: Denver McNichols Arena
UT: Salt Lake City Huntsman Center
CA: Anaheim Arrowhead Pond
WA: Seattle King Dome
HI: Maui Lahaina Civic Center
AK: Anchorage Sullivan Arena

-jk

[DU82]

A fun topic sitting on the couch with a cold, waiting for the game at 7PM. I'm at 96 arenas/stadiums, not counting college baseball parks (just haven't added them up yet.)

Here's Elizabeth's 64 arenas where she saw Duke play (anybody top this list?)

Cameron
Charlotte (Old-Independence)
Landover
Omni
Greensboro
Charlotte (New-Tyvola)
MCI Center
Littlejohn
Leon County
Alexander
Cole Field House
Reynolds
RBC Center
Woolen
Carmichael
DESSAC
South Carolina
U Hall (UVA)
Mem Gym UVA
Wake Forest (in Wake Forest)
Memorial (W-S)
L Joel (W-S)
Madison Square Garden (1968)
First Union Center
Madison Square Garden (1920)
Vanderbilt
Charleston WV
Navy
Davidson (old)
Palestra
Cobo Arena Detroit
Richmond
Princeton
Notre Dame
Western Kentucky
Sugar Bowl (NOLA)
Allen Fieldhouse Kansas
Alaska
Maui
Louisville
Kansas City - Memorial
Kansas City - Kemper
Providence RI
Checkerdome (ST Louis)
Dallas - Reunion
RCA Dome - Indy
Cincinnati
Meadowlands
Seattle Kingdome
Denver - Nichols
Metrodome
Silverdome
Spectrum
Chicago Rosemont
Thunderdome/Tropicana
Knoxville TN
Rupp Arena
Carrier Dome Syracuse
Greenville SC
Salt Lake City
The Pond (Anaheim)
Georgia Dome
Alamodome
Austin TX

[Kedsy]

I'll up the ante to my total (not just ACC) basketball venue list, though some names have changed and many are no longer standing.

Now you're just showing off, though Rupp, Phog, and Vandy are all way cool.

Here's mine:

Cameron
UNC: Carmichael
NCSU: Reynolds
UVA: University Hall
UMd: Cole

NC: Greensboro Coliseum - through a couple renovations
NC: Charlotte Coliseum - the one on Independence
NC: Charlotte Coliseum - the Airport one
NC: Charlotte Coliseum - the Uptown one

NY: NYC Madison Square Garden
NY: Barclay Center (well, I'll be there in a few days, anyway)
NJ: Meadowlands
PA: Philadelphia Palestra
PA: Philadelphia Spectrum
PA: Philadelphia Whatever-bank Center
PA: McGonigle Hall
PA: Liacouris Center

GA: Atlanta Omni Coliseum
GA: Atlanta Georgia Dome
GA: Atlanta Forbes Arena
FL: St Petersburg Tropicana Field
LA: Superdome

TN: UT Thompson–Boling Arena
OH: Cincinnati Riverfront
IN: Indianapolis Hoosier/RCA Dome
IN: Indianapolis Lucas Oil Stadium
IN: Market Square Arena
MI: Pontiac Silverdome
MI: Ford Field
MI: Palace at Auburn Hills
MN: Minneapolis Humphrey Metrodome

TX: San Antonio Alamodome
CO: Denver McNichols Arena
WA: Seattle King Dome

I might be forgetting one or two, but clearly you have me beat.

[Faustus]

As an addendum to Olympic Fan's post above about the obfuscation and, um, lack of full honesty and full disclosure of what can occasionally go on over at Chapel Hill, I'm pretty sure the very name "Carmichael Auditorium" derived from the fact that the new construction was officially NOT supposed to be for a new arena. So they dubbed it an 'auditorium' instead. See? Nothing dishonest about that.

[hurleyfor3]

As an addendum to Olympic Fan's post above about the obfuscation and, um, lack of full honesty and full disclosure of what can occasionally go on over at Chapel Hill, I'm pretty sure the very name "Carmichael Auditorium" derived from the fact that the new construction was officially NOT supposed to be for a new arena. So they dubbed it an 'auditorium' instead. See? Nothing dishonest about that.

Wasn't there similar subterfuge in the naming of the Dean Edward Smith Student Activities Center? I mean, it's funny to call them "students" knowing what we know now, but that makes it sound like a union building.

[throatybeard]

I can't even begin to express how bad University Hall was. I saw our OT game there in 2000. I think I'd rather watch a football game in Atlanta-Fulton County stadium in the rain.

[Duvall]

Hm.

Cameron

CU: Littlejohn
SU: Carrier Dome
UVA: JPJ Arena*
UVA: U-Hall*
UNC: DESSAC*
FSU: Tallahassee LCCC
NCS: PNC Arena
WF: LJVM Coliseum
MD: Comcast Center*
MD: Cole Field House
UM: BankUnited Center
NCS: Reynolds Coliseum*

NC: Greensboro Coliseum*
GA: Georgia Dome**
IL: United Center
PA: Wells Fargo Center
NY: Madison Square Garden
GA: Philips Arena
DC: Verizon Center
TX: Reliant Stadium
IN: Lucas Oil Stadium
NJ: Izod Center
FL: Amalie Arena
NC: Charlotte Coliseum II
TX: Alamodome
MN: HHH Metrodome
FL: Tropicana Field

* Both men's and women's basketball
** Men's basketball, women's basketball and football

[burnspbesq]

Technically, it was never an ACC arena, but Manley Field House was all kinds of awesome.

After Cameron, my favorite college gym is the Galen Center at USC. If Cameron ever has to be rebuilt from the ground up, just do a mirror image of the Galen Center, with the windows on the south end (view of Wally Wade) instead of the north end (view of downtown LA skyline).

[Reilly]

... Manley Field House was all kinds of awesome ...

I think I heard from John Thompson that it's now closed.

[AncientPsychicT]

... Manley Field House was all kinds of awesome ...

I think I heard from John Thompson that it's now closed.

Messed up quote tags annoy me.

I also feel out of place in this discussion. At 20, I've only been to 2 ACC arenas, Cameron and PNC, and I've only been to PNC for hockey games.

[Tom B.]

I can't even begin to express how bad University Hall was. I saw our OT game there in 2000. I think I'd rather watch a football game in Atlanta-Fulton County stadium in the rain.

I went to games in University Hall for three years when I was in grad school at UVa in the mid-1990s, and it was, indeed, a dump. By that time, it was quite dated (actually, it was dated by the mid-1980s), and the square-peg/round-hole configuration and general blah-ness of the crowd made it not much of a home court advantage. Though its interior cubic footage was almost certainly greater than Cameron's (due to its circular configuration and vaulted domed roof), its capacity was actually smaller, as it seated around 8,400 people. In fact, it was the smallest-capacity arena in the ACC for some time. They actually piped crowd noise through the PA system during the starting introductions. It would get loud exactly twice a year -- when Duke and Carolina came to town.

And there were virtually no good seats in the house. There were some floor-level seats, but they weren't really good because they were on the same level as the benches and the scorer's and media tables, so you could only see the game from the waist up. The first rows of tiered seating on the sides were set well back form the floor. The only places you could have unobstructed low-level seats AND be relatively close to the action were on the endlines, which is where they put the students.

And the students were hardly die-hards. My last year there, I was part of a group of grad students who had gone to Duke as undergrads that was able to commandeer an entire section of the student seating on one end. That was the famous Rick Hartzell game, where Wojo went the length of the floor in the last five seconds, drew a foul, then had to wait 10 minutes while the officials sorted out a substitution and clock operation screwup, then drilled two free throws with 0.7 seconds left to give Duke a one-point win. Good times.