WVU Coliseum

{{Short description|Arena in Morgantown, West Virginia}}

{{Infobox venue

| stadium_name = West Virginia University Coliseum

| nickname =

| image = 300px

| image_map = {{maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|frame-align=center|frame-width=300|zoom=15|type=point}}

| location = Monongahela Boulevard
Morgantown, WV 26505

| coordinates = {{coord|39|38|57|N|79|58|52|W|display=it}}

| broke_ground = December 21, 1968

| built =

| opened = December 1, 1970

| closed =

| demolished =

| owner = West Virginia University

| operator = West Virginia University

| surface = Hardwood

| construction_cost = $10.4 million
(${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US|10400000|1970}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}})

| structural engineer = Osborn Engineering https://www.osborn-eng.com/

| general_contractor = McDevitt & Street Co.

| former_names =

| tenants = West Virginia Mountaineers (NCAA)
Men's basketball (1970–present)
Women's basketball (1973–present)
Women's volleyball (1973–present)
Women's gymnastics (1973–present)
Wrestling (1970–present)

| seating_capacity = 14,000

}}

File:WVU Evansdale Campus.jpg and the Canady Creative Arts Center (left-right).|300px]]The WVU Coliseum is a 14,000-seat multi-purpose arena located on the Evansdale campus of West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. The circular arena features a poured concrete roof. It was built with state funds and replaced the WVU Fieldhouse, which seated 6,000.

History

The Coliseum, which opened in 1970, has more than {{convert|10.5|Mcuft|m3}} of space. It is home to West Virginia University Mountaineers sports teams, including the men's and women's basketball teams, men's wrestling, and women's volleyball and gymnastics. There is also a {{convert|3000|sqft|m2|adj=on}} weight room located in the lower level of the Coliseum. The arena has nearly 100 offices, 13 lecture and seminar rooms, a dance studio, safety lab, racquetball and squash courts, and the Jerry West Mountaineer Room, which holds nearly 150 people for meetings. The arena also has more than 1,000 individual locker units in various dressing rooms available for students and staff.

The Coliseum has been used for music concerts but the concrete roof has poor sound distribution properties, so other venues in town are more appropriate for this purpose. The arena was actually designed with poor acoustics; the designers cupped the ceiling so that crowd noise generated at basketball games would be directed back to the floor. The seating at the venue was also designed for optimized viewing during sporting events, making the setup for concerts to be not as optimal as other large arenas.

The first event held at the Coliseum was a Grand Funk Railroad concert in 1970,{{cite web|title=WVU Coliseum Tickets|url=http://coliseummorgantown.com/contact.php|website=Coliseummorgantown.com|access-date=6 December 2017}} with the first game then taking place on 1 December 1970.{{cite web|title=WVU Coliseum|url=http://wvusports.com/sports/2017/8/3/wvu-coliseum.aspx|website=Wvusports.com|access-date=6 December 2017}} The Coliseum was one of the sites for games of the 1974 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. Other National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men's Division I college basketball events it has hosted include the ECAC South Region tournament organized by the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) in 1975 and 1976{{Cite web|url=http://jonfmorse.com/wiki/index.php?title=1975_ECAC_Men%27s_Basketball_Tournaments|title=1975 ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments - Varsity Pride|website=Jonfmorse.com|access-date=13 November 2021}}{{Cite web|url=http://jonfmorse.com/wiki/index.php?title=1976_ECAC_Men%27s_Basketball_Tournaments|title=1976 ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments - Varsity Pride|website=Jonfmorse.com|access-date=13 November 2021|archive-date=14 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214162620/http://jonfmorse.com/wiki/index.php?title=1976_ECAC_Men%27s_Basketball_Tournaments|url-status=dead}} and the Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball tournament in 1984 and 1988.

During the 1998-99 season, the Jerry West Lounge, named for WVU and NBA Hall-of-Famer Jerry West, was formally dedicated. A display showcasing the highlights of the Mountaineer great flanks the entrance to the lounge. In November 2005, the University announced that a life size bronze statue of West would adorn the Blue Gate entrance of the Coliseum, and the statue has since been installed there. West{{'}}s number is retired and a sign hangs over the seating section formerly designated Section 44 (now Section 236, after renovation) with "Jerry West 44" written on it. Hot Rod Hundley{{'}}s number 33 also is retired and hangs from the walls. On February 29, 2020, the number 44 was retired again in honor of Rod Thorn, who had worn the number immediately after West; Thorn's sign hangs over Section 226.

In 1999-2000, the school was forced to play a year of games split between Wheeling and Charleston, and the gymnasium at nearby Fairmont State University while asbestos was removed from the Coliseum.

In 2004, the Coliseum underwent an upgrade which included renovations to the men's and women's locker rooms, construction of a player's lounge and team video theater, expansion of the equipment and athletic training rooms, refurbishment of the Coliseum roof, and construction of a club seating area in the main arena complete with a private space for concessions, hospitality area, and rest rooms under the lower level seats.

In 2008, the Coliseum received a new video scoreboard, a new public address system, a new lighting system, two LED ribbon boards, and a new floor design. WVU Athletic Director Ed Pastilong also announced the construction of a new $20–$22 million practice facility to be built adjacent to the Coliseum.

In 2016, the concourse area of the Coliseum underwent major renovation to enhance the fan experience, widening the concourse for better traffic flow, adding new concession areas (including self-serve options), and more than doubling the building's restroom capacity. During the summer of 2020, the arena's original 1970-era seats were replaced. The re-seating project did not change the Coliseum's seating capacity. The arena also received a new video scoreboard, with a larger display area and higher resolution than the previous scoreboard.

File:WVU Coliseum interior 2022.jpg

In 2019, the playing surface was refinished and repainted. The look is the sixth court design in the Coliseum since opening in 1970.{{Cite web|last=Antonik|first=John|title=WVU Coliseum Floor to Get a New Look This Summer|url=https://wvusports.com/news/2019/5/23/mens-basketball-wvu-coliseum-floor-to-get-a-new-look-this-summer.aspx|access-date=2022-02-07|website=West Virginia University Athletics|language=en}} The previous court design was installed in 2009, but was repainted in 2012 when West Virginia University changed conferences from the Big East to the Big 12 in 2012.{{Cite web|last=Pentol|first=John|title=The evolution of the WVU Coliseum floor designs|url=https://www.si.com/college/westvirginia/basketball/the-evolution-of-the-wvu-coliseum-floor-designs|access-date=2022-02-07|website=Sports Illustrated West Virginia Mountaineers News, Analysis and More|date=22 July 2019 |language=en}} The new court returns to the theme of West Virginia's historic courts with a primarily blue color scheme, and the design coincides with WVU's school-wide Nike rebranding efforts.

Top crowds

File:WVU Coliseum 2017.jpg

class="wikitable"

|+ Highest attendance at WVU Coliseum{{Cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/west-virginia/|title=West Virginia Mountaineers Index|website=Sports-Reference.com|access-date=13 November 2021}}

!colspan=1 style={{CollegePrimaryStyle|West Virginia Mountaineers}}|Rank

!colspan=1 style={{CollegePrimaryStyle|West Virginia Mountaineers}}|Attendance

!colspan=1 style={{CollegePrimaryStyle|West Virginia Mountaineers}}|Date

!colspan=1 style={{CollegePrimaryStyle|West Virginia Mountaineers}}|Game Result

1

| 16,704 || Feb. 24, 1982 || #6 West Virginia 82, Pittsburgh 77

2

| 15,835 || Jan. 27, 2018 || #7 West Virginia 76, Kentucky 83

3

| 15,638 || Feb. 27, 1983 || West Virginia 87, #1 UNLV 78

4

| 15,593 || Feb. 8, 2010 || #5 West Virginia 75, #4 Villanova 82

5

| 15,419 || Feb. 3, 2010 || #6 West Virginia 77, #21 Pittsburgh 51

6

| 15,409 || Dec. 4, 1982 || West Virginia 95, Marshall 82

7

| 15,299 || Jan. 31, 1981 || West Virginia 76, Pittsburgh 63

8

| 15,289 || Feb. 20, 2016 || #10 West Virginia 61, #3 Oklahoma 50

9

| 15,271 || Jan. 16, 2010 || #9 West Virginia 71, #5 Syracuse 72

10

| 15,193 || Dec. 2, 1995 || West Virginia 83, #6 Georgetown 86 (OT)

11

| 15,167 || Feb. 11, 1998 || #16 West Virginia 80, #6 UConn 62

12

| 15,118 || Feb. 17 1979 || West Virginia 54, #3 Notre Dame 70

13

| 15,106 || Jan. 6, 2018 || #6 West Virginia 89, #7 Oklahoma 76

14

| 15,033 || Jan. 23, 2010 || #11 West Virginia 71, #21 Ohio State 65

15

| 15,032 || Mar. 5, 2011 || West Virginia 72, #11 Louisville 70

Year by year results

File:Coliseummorgantown.jpg

  • West Virginia Men's Basketball season results in the Coliseum

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

!colspan=1 style={{CollegePrimaryStyle|West Virginia Mountaineers}}|Year

!colspan=1 style={{CollegePrimaryStyle|West Virginia Mountaineers}}|Record

!colspan=1 style={{CollegePrimaryStyle|West Virginia Mountaineers}}|Win Percentage

1970-71

|9-4

|.692

1971-72

|11-4

|.733

1972-73

|8-6

|.571

1973-74

|8-4

|.667

1974-75

|8-6

|.571

1975-76

|12-4

|.750

1976-77

|11-1

|.917

1977-78

|8-4

|.667

1978-79

|14-4

|.778

1979-80

|8-7

|.554

1980-81

|19-1

|.950

1981-82

|15-0

|1.000

1982-83

|13-1

|.929

1983-84

|15-2

|.882

1984-85

|13-3

|.813

1985-86

|14-2

|.875

1986-87

|10-6

|.625

1988-89

|12-2

|.857

1989-90

|12-1

|.923

1990-91

|13-2

|.867

1991-92

|10-3

|.769

1992-93

|14-1

|.933

1993-94

|13-3

|.813

1994-95

|9-4

|.692

1995-96

|9-5

|.643

1996-97

|12-4

|.750

1997-98

|13-1

|.929

1998-99

|6-7

|.462

1999-00

|colspan=2|Closed for Asbestos Removal

2000-01

|12-4

|.750

2001-02

|5-8

|.385

2002-03

|9-5

|.643

2003-04

|10-4

|.714

2004-05

|11-3

|.786

2005-06

|13-2

|.867

2006-07

|17-1

|.944

2007-08

|14-2

|.875

2008-09

|11-2

|.846

2009-10

|12-2

|.857

2010-11

|12-2

|.857

2011-12

|11-5

|.688

2012-13

|8-6

|.571

2013-14

|11-5

|.688

2014-15

|12-3

|.800

2015-16

|13-2

|.867

2016-17

|16-2

|.889

2017-18

|14-3

|.823

2018-19

|10-6

|.625

OVERALL: 549–159 ({{Winning percentage|547|158}})

See also

References

{{Reflist}}