Huff Hall is a 4,050-seat multi-purpose

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 ...

Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...

, United States. The arena opened in 1925 and was known as Huff Gymnasium until the 1990s. It is named after George Huff, who was the school's athletic director from 1895 to 1935. Huff Hall is home to the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The University operates a number of athletic faci ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

and

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

teams. Prior to the opening of

Assembly Hall An assembly hall is a hall to hold public meetings or meetings of an organization such as a school, church, or deliberative assembly. An example of the last case is the Assembly Hall (Washington, Mississippi) where the general assembly of the st ...

in 1963, it was home to 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 ...

team as well. Currently Huff Hall is used for a variety of sporting events, including men's and women's gymnastics, men's wrestling, and women's volleyball. At each athletic event banners are hung of past Illini heroes to remind the crowd of the rich tradition that Illini athletics have had. Every March from 1926 to 1962, Huff Gymnasium played host to the state finals of the

Illinois High School Association The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is an association that regulates competition of interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level for the state of Illinois. It is a charter member of the National Fed ...

boys' basketball tournament. Huff Hall also served as the home of the women's basketball team. Beginning in the 1970s and continuing through the mid-1990s, the team once again used Huff Hall for home games, as it struggled to fill up the Assembly Hall. Since 1997 the team has used the Assembly Hall exclusively, although it struggles with a losing record and to fill up the Assembly Hall. From 1927 to 2002 Huff Hall was also home to a 25-yard swimming pool which served as the home of the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign

Underwater Hockey Underwater hockey (UWH), (also known as Octopush in the United Kingdom) is a globally played limited-contact sport in which two teams compete to manoeuvre a puck across the bottom of a swimming pool into the opposing team's goal by propelling ...

club and the University of Illinois Water Polo Club. The pool had a consistent depth of 8 ft. which made it ideal for these activities. Huff pool

In addition to hosting athletic events, Huff Hall is also the home of the College of Applied Health Sciences. Huff Hall in 2020

History

Originally called the "New Gymnasium", Huff Hall was designed in the Georgian-Revival Style by

Charles A. Platt Charles Adams Platt (October 16, 1861 – September 12, 1933) was a prominent American architect, garden designer, and artist of the "American Renaissance" movement. His garden designs complemented his domestic architecture. Early career Pai ...

and university architect James M. White. The building's architecture matches that of the Armory, Main Library, the Union, and other campus buildings. At the conclusion of its $772,000 construction in 1925, Huff Hall replaced the Military Drill Hall (now known as Kenney Gym Annex) as the home for Fighting Illini basketball. The "New Gymnasium" was renamed Huff Gymnasium in 1937 following the longtime athletic director's passing.

Men's basketball records at Huff Hall

Notes: **denotes incomplete or partial records. ***denotes played 9 games at Huff Hall but finished season at

. *(N/R) denotes ''no records'' Men's basketball all-time records

References

{{coord, 40.103540, -88.232811, display=t, type:landmark Indoor arenas in Illinois Defunct college basketball venues in the United States College gymnastics venues in the United States College volleyball venues in the United States College wrestling venues in the United States Gymnastics venues in Illinois Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball venues Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball venues Illinois Fighting Illini men's gymnastics venues Illinois Fighting Illini women's gymnastics venues Illinois Fighting Illini women's volleyball venues Illinois Fighting Illini wrestling venues Swimming venues in Illinois Volleyball venues in Illinois Wrestling venues in Illinois Sports venues in Champaign–Urbana, Illinois Tourist attractions in Champaign County, Illinois Buildings and structures of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 1925 establishments in Illinois Sports venues completed in 1925