Memorial Gymnasium (Vanderbilt University)
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Memorial Gymnasium is a multi-purpose facility located in
Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
,
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
. Usually called Memorial Gym or simply Memorial, the building is located on the western end of the
Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...
campus. It was built in 1952 and currently has a
seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...
of 14,326. It serves as home court for the school's men's and women's
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 ...
programs, and will also serve as the home of Vanderbilt's upcoming women's volleyball program, scheduled to begin play in 2025.Vanderbilt Official Athletics Site - Facilities - Memorial Gym
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Construction and unusual design

Memorial Gymnasium was built in the early 1950s, designed by
Edwin A. Keeble Edwin Augustus Keeble (August 18, 1905 September 22, 1979) was an American architect who was trained in the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts architecture tradition. He designed many buildings in Tennessee, including homes, churches, military ...
. It was dedicated as the campus memorial to students and
alumni Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...
killed in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
; a plaque commemorating these people is displayed in the lobby. At the time of its construction, there was a serious discussion within the Vanderbilt community about whether the school should de-emphasize intercollegiate athletics. As a compromise, the gymnasium was built to hold only about 8,000 seats, and it would be readily adaptable to other uses. The gymnasium floor was built up above its surroundings, more in the nature of a stage. The areas out of bounds along the sidelines were very wide, in contrast with the small facility which it replaced, where the walls were right along the sidelines and players could scrape their shoulders bringing the ball up the court. This necessitated the placement of the benches at each end of the court, which was not highly unusual at the time. In addition, each goal was originally anchored by two far-reaching beams attached to support columns, with extra support coming from cables stretching all the way to the gym's ceiling. (In the case of a backboard shatter or beam fracture, replacing the old goals would be highly difficult, compared to the usual goal setup at most venues.) The main gym, unlike the practice gyms, does not have air conditioning. Until a 2017 renovation, the shot clocks were positioned below the backboard on the player's right. A new conventional Spalding backstop, with a Daktronics shot clock above the center of the goal, was installed for the 2017–18 season. Memorial Gym is well known for its unusual design. The end-of-the-floor bench location is now unique in major
college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
, and said to give Vanderbilt a home court advantage, since no other facility in which opponents play is arranged in such a way. The interior walls were unpainted cinder blocks prior to a major renovation in the early 2000s. The middle of the three decks has a low ceiling and when the house lights are turned off during game play gives the distinct impression of watching a Cinemascope
movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
of basketball. For many years opposing coaches complained they had to coach their team from the baseline, making it very tough to communicate from the other end of the floor. This was due to the placement of the team benches on the baselines. However, beginning in the 2015–16 season, coaches were given typical coaching boxes that ran up the sideline, as in every other college gym. Now, even though their teams are still on the baseline, the coaches have the ability to roam the sideline up to the end of a regulation NCAA coaching box.


History

As
Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...
basketball grew in popularity and Vanderbilt established itself as a basketball power, the seating capacity proved inadequate. The gymnasium had been designed in a way which made it readily expandable, and by the mid-1960s it seated 11,103. A conference championship run in 1966 led to even more demand for seats, and by the end of the decade the facility seated 15,581. It usually sold out, especially for conference games, and in the late 1960s and early 1970s Vanderbilt was consistently in the top ten for attendance in all of college basketball, a remarkable achievement for a middle-sized private institution. The arena hosted the SEC men's basketball tournament in 1984 and 1991. In the early 1990s the building served as the host site for a "
Battle of the Boulevard The Battle of the Boulevard, also referred to as the Belmont–Lipscomb basketball rivalry is a college basketball rivalry between the Belmont University Bruins and the Lipscomb University Bisons. Its nickname was established because of both sc ...
" rivalry game between Lipscomb and Belmont, two other Nashville institutions with a long history of quality basketball. The game was moved to Memorial when it became apparent that demand for tickets would greatly outstrip their availability at Belmont's former home court, tiny Striplin Gymnasium. However, even event organizers themselves were shocked when the doubleheader between the women's and men's teams sold Memorial out by the halftime of the women's game. This event still (as of 2019) holds the all-time attendance record for an NAIA basketball game.


Host for post-season college basketball

Memorial Gym has hosted the
NCAA Men's Basketball Championship The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...
on four occasions (1973 regionals, 1982/1989/1993 first- and second-round games). It has also served as home to the 1984 and 1991 SEC Men's Basketball tournaments. In the 1984 tournament,
Charles Barkley Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst on TNT. Nicknamed "Sir Charles", "Chuck", and "the Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley played 16 seasons in the Natio ...
's "sitting at midcourt" episode occurred after his Auburn Tigers were beaten in the tournament championship by the Kentucky Wildcats. In 1991, Alabama won the championship 88–69 over Tennessee. It has served as an NCAA women's basketball tournament host site 12 times (first- and/or second-round games in 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2001, 2002, 2006, and 2012, plus regionals in 1998). Then-
Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...
coach
Pat Kennedy Joseph Patrick Kennedy (born January 5, 1952) is an American former college basketball coach and player. He was previously the men's basketball coach at Towson University, Iona College (New York), Iona College, Florida State University, DePaul ...
complained about the arrangement after his team lost a first-round NCAA Tournament game there. The NCAA has used the newer
Bridgestone Arena Bridgestone Arena (originally Nashville Arena, and formerly Gaylord Entertainment Center and Sommet Center) is a multi-purpose venue in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Completed in 1996, it is the home of the Nashville Predators of ...
, a larger arena with a modern configuration in downtown Nashville, for first- and second-round men's tournament games on four more recent occasions (2000, 2003, 2005, 2012) instead of Memorial Gym.


Renovations and recent history

In recent years the facility has been modernized; the addition of a
press box The press box is a special section of a sports stadium or arena that is set up for the media to report about a given event. It is typically located in the section of the stadium holding the luxury box and can be either enclosed or open to the e ...
, suites, and other amenities have reduced the seating capacity somewhat. The facility is favored by many basketball purists as an example of a facility designed primarily for that sport—although it also at times housed other facilities for the Vanderbilt athletic operation, such as a
swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...
—and has been called the "
Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Base ...
of College Basketball." Memorial Gym was the site of the
Jeff Lacy Jeffrey Scott Lacy (born May 12, 1977) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2015. He held the IBF super middleweight title from 2004 to 2006, and the IBO super middleweight title from 2005 to 2006. Lacy rose to pro ...
versus
Jermain Taylor Jermain Taylor (born August 11, 1978) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2014. He remains the most recent undisputed middleweight champion, having won the WBA (Undisputed), WBC, IBF, WBO, ''Ring'' magazine, and ...
WBC
super middleweight Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, super middleweight is contested between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, in which boxers can weigh between 160 pounds ( ...
elimination bout on November 15, 2008, the first time that the gym had hosted a major professional boxing event. The undercard of this fight also saw future WBC
Heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...
World Champion
Deontay Wilder Deontay Leshun Wilder (; born October 22, 1985) is an American professional boxer. He held the WBC heavyweight title from 2015 to 2020, making 10 successful defenses. By winning the title, Wilder became the first American world heavyweight ch ...
make his professional debut.


See also

*
List of NCAA Division I basketball arenas A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...


References


External links


The Magic of Memorial is Historical- Part I






- with clickable Points-of-View {{DEFAULTSORT:Memorial Gymnasium Vanderbilt Commodores basketball Sports venues in Nashville, Tennessee College basketball venues in the United States Basketball venues in Tennessee 1952 establishments in Tennessee Sports venues completed in 1952