The Georgia State University Sports Arena is an

indoor arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

located in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It was the home of the

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

teams of

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the ...

from 1973 until 2022 and hosted the

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

competition of the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. It is the home of Georgia State's women's volleyball team.Georgia State Sports Arena
at georgiastatesports.com, URL accessed November 26, 2010.

Description

The Georgia State Sports Arena consists of four stories. The gymnasium floor is on the third level and was the home court for men's and women's basketball and is currently the home of women's volleyball. Arena seating is available on the third and fourth floors. Locker rooms are located on the third floor under the fourth floor seating. The

athletics department is located on the first floor of the building. Also in the building is a Student-Athlete Learning Lab. The main court (named the Charles "Lefty" Driesell Court for the former Panthers men's basketball coach) has a four-sided scoreboard hanging from the ceiling as well as a " Jumbotron" style video signage board on the south end wall.

History

Construction of the arena began in 1972 as class space for physical education classes and as a recreation center for students. Men's basketball began using it as its home court in 1973. On December 12, 2003, the main court was named the Charles "Lefty" Driesell Court after the former men's basketball coach. A ceremony was held during the halftime of an 88-57 victory over the

University of South Alabama The University of South Alabama (USA) is a public research university in Mobile, Alabama. It was created by the Alabama Legislature in May, 1963, and replaced existing extension programs operated in Mobile by the University of Alabama. The first ...

. Renovations in 2004 replaced the playing floor of the main court as well as painting the walls. During the 2002-03 season, a four-sided scoreboard was added hanging from the ceiling as well as a " jumbotron" style screen on the south wall. More recently, a 225 Student-Athlete Learning Lab was opened on the first floor providing athlete advisement, study halls, tutorials, and computer labs. Prior to the 2013 men's and women's basketball seasons, the locker rooms were moved from the 2nd floor to the 3rd floor, taking up space previously used for large functions. Renovations included the additions of a players lounge and conference hall, as well as stylized graphics lining the hallways and locker rooms. A new center-hung videoboard was installed during the summer of 2015 following the Panthers' NCAA tournament run, along with a digital scorer's table board. In February 2018, '' The Signal'' reported plans of a convocation center included in the Georgia state government's 2019 fiscal year budget. The new arena is planned to cost $80 million, with $60 million coming from state funding and the remainder from private funding. The new arena seats up to 8,000 spectators. In addition to being the new home of men's and women's basketball, the arena is also used for commencement ceremonies, concerts, and other large events. The basketball programs' administrative offices and practice facilities remain in the current Sports Arena. Planning of the new arena took 12 months while construction took an additional two years to complete. On May 10, 2019, Governor

Brian Kemp Brian Porter Kemp (born November 2, 1963) is an American businessman and politician serving as the 83rd governor of Georgia since January 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Kemp served as the 27th secretary of state of Georgia from 2010 t ...

approved $48 million in the state's 2019 budget for the new Georgia State convocation center. On February 25, 2022, the Panthers played their last game in GSU Sports Arena beating Louisiana 65-58. The

Georgia State Convocation Center The Georgia State Convocation Center is a multi-purpose 8,000-seat indoor arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The arena is owned by Georgia State University and houses the Georgia State Panthers (NCAA Division I) men's and women's basketball teams. Hist ...

opened in 2022.

Events

*The GSU Sports Arena was used during the

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

to host the badminton competition. *In 2002 and 2007, the arena hosted

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

's College Slam Dunk and 3-point Championships during the 2002 and 2007 Final Four competition. *The pop band *

NSYNC NSYNC (, ; also stylized as *NSYNC or 'N Sync) was an American boy band formed by Chris Kirkpatrick in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich. Their self-titled debut album was successfully released to European ...

held a charity basketball game in 2000 before the

Georgia Dome The Georgia Dome was a domed stadium in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta between downtown to the east and Vine City to the west, it was owned and operated by the State of Georgia as part of the Georgia World Congress Center ...

hosted

Super Bowl XXXIV Super Bowl XXXIV was an American football game played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on January 30, 2000, to determine the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1999 NFL season, 1999 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champ ...

.Laker Newsletter
at albertbelle.net, URL accessed November 26, 2010. *Various graduations both for

students and high school students are held annually at the arena. *Various performances have been held by different entertainers, including

Jay Leno James Douglas Muir Leno (; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and actor. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show'' from 1992 to 2009. Beginning in September 2009 ...

Dana Carvey Dana Thomas Carvey (born June 2, 1955) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, impressionist, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for his seven seasons as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1986 to 1993, which earned him fiv ...

Jamie Foxx Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He became widely known for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biographical film '' Ray'', for which he won the ...

, The Spinners, the

Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Mike D, Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (voca ...

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, Nielsen and ...

Ludacris Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), known professionally as Ludacris (, homophonous with 'ludicrous' in American English), is an American rapper, actor, record producer and record executive. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludac ...

and the

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Created in 1926 by Tommy Brookins in Chicago, Illinois, the team adopted the name ''Harlem'' because of i ...

. *The arena hosted the 2001 and 2003

Atlantic Sun Conference The ASUN Conference, formerly the Atlantic Sun Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Divisi ...

men's basketball tournaments.

References

1996 Summer Olympics official report.
Volume 1. p. 540.
1996 Summer Olympics official report.
Volume 3. p. 450. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gsu Sports Arena Georgia State Panthers men's basketball Georgia State Panthers women's basketball Georgia State Panthers volleyball College basketball venues in the United States College volleyball venues in the United States Basketball venues in Georgia (U.S. state) Indoor arenas in Georgia (U.S. state) Olympic badminton venues Sports venues in Atlanta Venues of the 1996 Summer Olympics 1973 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Sports venues completed in 1973

Description

History

Events

See also

References

References