Tom Gola Arena, The Tom, The Gola, is a 3,400-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 ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

situated inside the

TruMark Financial Center The TruMark Financial Center, known as the Hayman Center until 2017, is the indoor athletic arena on La Salle University's campus. It is located directly across a walkway from the St. Francis and St. Edwards residence complex. The building was ope ...

. It is home to the

La Salle University La Salle University () is a private, Catholic university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The university was founded in 1863 by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools and named for St. Jean-Baptiste de La Salle. History La ...

Explorers men's and

women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

basketball teams as well as its

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 ...

team. It is named after former Explorers captain and head coach

Tom Gola Thomas Joseph Gola (January 13, 1933 – January 26, 2014) was an American basketball player and politician. He is widely considered one of the greatest NCAA basketball players of all-time. Gola was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball ...

, currently in the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

. The building was opened on February 21, 1998, as the men's basketball team defeated

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

74-64. La Salle's Explorers had not played basketball on campus since leaving Wister Hall in 1955, the season after the 1954 NCAA Championship. The Explorers played at the

Palestra The Palestra, often called the Cathedral of College Basketball, is a historic arena and the home gym of the Penn Quakers men's and women's basketball teams, volleyball teams, wrestling team, and Philadelphia Big 5 basketball. Located at 235 South ...

from 1955 to 1989, the

Philadelphia Civic Center The Philadelphia Convention Hall and Civic Center – more commonly known simply as the Philadelphia Civic Center – was a convention center complex located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It developed out of a series of buildings dedicated to ...

from 1989 to 1996, and the

First Union Spectrum The Spectrum (later known as CoreStates Spectrum, First Union Spectrum and Wachovia Spectrum) was an indoor arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Opened in September 1967 as part of what is now known as the South Philadelphia Spor ...

from 1996 until the arena opened in 1998. In 2021, the arena was equipped with two working smoke machines. In Philadelphia's

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

bid, the arena was planned to host

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...

References

https://defector.com/behold-the-glory-of-the-la-salle-university-smoke-machine/

External links

La Salle University Athletics - Tom Gola Arena
Sports venues completed in 1998 College basketball venues in the United States Basketball venues in Philadelphia La Salle Explorers basketball Philadelphia Big 5 Wister, Philadelphia 1998 establishments in Pennsylvania College volleyball venues in the United States {{Pennsylvania-sports-venue-stub

See also

References

External links