The Pete Hanna Center is the building housing the 4,974-seat Thomas E. and Marla H. Corts Arena on the campus of

Samford University Samford University is a private Christian university in Homewood, Alabama. In 1841, the university was founded as Howard College by Baptists. Samford University describes itself as the 87th oldest institution of higher learning in the United Sta ...

in Homewood (a suburb of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

), in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. It is home to the

Samford Bulldogs The Samford Bulldogs are the 17 varsity teams (8 men's and 9 women's) that represent Samford University in NCAA Division I athletics. The men's basketball team made its first NCAA Tournament appearances in 1999 and 2000.They were led by Reed Raw ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

teams, which previously played in Seibert Hall. The facility opened in October 2007 and is named for Pete Hanna, the owner, president and chief executive officer of Hanna Steel Corporation. The arena is named for

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

and Marla Corts, former president and first lady of Samford University. The Pete Hanna Center opened on October 18, 2007, with a lecture by best-selling author

Walter Isaacson Walter Seff Isaacson (born May 20, 1952) is an American author, journalist, and professor. He has been the President and CEO of the Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C., the chair and CEO of CNN, ...

. The Hanna Center seats 5,000 in Corts Arena and is the home to many

commencement ceremonies, as well as playing host to concerts, high school basketball, and conferences. It was for a time a yearly stop from 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 ...

. A record crowd of 5,116 watched the Samford men's basketball team take on

Davidson College Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. It was established in 1837 by the Concord Presbytery and named after Revolutionary War general William Lee Davidson, who was killed at the nearby Battle of Cowan� ...

on January 31, 2009. The Hanna Center also contains a workout facility for students, faculty and staff, athletics offices, locker rooms, athletic training and strength and conditioning facilities. Most recently, the Pete Hanna Center was the host of the 2009

T-Mobile T-Mobile is the brand name used by some of the mobile communications subsidiaries of the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG in the Czech Republic (T-Mobile Czech Republic), Poland (T-Mobile Polska), the United States (T-Mobile ...

Invitational. The prestigious national high school basketball tournament was played December 29–30, 2009 at the Hanna Center. The Hanna Center is also the host of the yearly Birmingham stop of the World Famous Harlem Globetrotters.

References

External links

Pete Hanna Center website
Samford Bulldogs basketball Buildings and structures in Jefferson County, Alabama Basketball venues in Alabama College basketball venues in the United States 2007 establishments in Alabama Sports venues completed in 2007 College volleyball venues in the United States {{Alabama-stadium-stub

See also

References

External links