Memorial Coliseum (University of Kentucky)

For other uses, see Memorial Coliseum (disambiguation).

Memorial Coliseum
Construction
The House That Rupp Built

Location	201 Avenue of Champions Lexington, KY 40506
Coordinates	38°02′22″N 84°30′01″W / 38.03944°N 84.50028°W / 38.03944; -84.50028Coordinates: 38°02′22″N 84°30′01″W / 38.03944°N 84.50028°W / 38.03944; -84.50028
Owner	University of Kentucky
Operator	University of Kentucky
Capacity	10,000^[1]
Opened	December 1, 1950
Construction cost	$4 million
Tenants
Kentucky Wildcats (Women's basketball, gymnastics and volleyball)

Memorial Coliseum is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Lexington, Kentucky. The facility, which opened in 1950, is home to three women's teams at the University of Kentucky—basketball, volleyball, and gymnastics. Before Rupp Arena opened in 1976, it also housed the men's basketball team, and continued to house the university's swimming and diving team as well until the completion of the Lancaster Aquatics Center in 1989.

The facility was built as a memorial to Kentuckians who had died in World War I, World War II and the Korean War. Later, the names of all Kentuckians who died in the Vietnam War were added. Originally, it had an official capacity of 12,000, making it the largest arena in the South at the time. However, the Coliseum frequently drew crowds of over 13,000 for many UK basketball games. A major renovation, completed in 1990, reduced the seating capacity to its current total of 10,000 and added an elaborate weight training facility, new offices for the basketball and athletics programs, a players' lounge, and a team meeting room.^[1] The seating is now mostly located on the sidelines, and the men's NCAA basketball championship banners still hang on the walls. The building is known for its air of great tradition. While it was the home of the UK men's basketball team, it hosted the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament ten times, four times as a regional site (1957, 1958, 1967, 1968) and six more as a sub-regional site (1955, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1967, 1975). As home to the University of Kentucky Wildcats, it saw two NCAA men's basketball national championship teams (1951, 1958), two NCAA men's basketball runner-up teams (1966, 1975), one NIT Men's Basketball champion (1976), and 16 Southeastern Conference (SEC) Men's Basketball regular season champions. Overall, in 26 seasons (1950-51 to 1975-76), the University of Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team posted a home record of 307–38 (.890). Memorial hosted a first-round game in the 2009 National Invitation Tournament on March 17, 2009 between the Wildcats and the UNLV Running Rebels,^[2] with the Wildcats winning 70–60.^[3] The game was held at Memorial instead of Rupp Arena due to a scheduling conflict with the KHSAA boys' high school basketball state tournament scheduled at Rupp that week.^[4]

The Coliseum was also the home of the Kentucky Boys' Sweet Sixteen State Basketball Tournament from 1951 to 1964. Since then, it has hosted numerous high school basketball tournaments over the years.

The Coliseum stands across the street from the former site of Stoll Field/McLean Stadium, the football team's home before moving to Commonwealth Stadium in 1973. Prior to the building of the Coliseum, the Kentucky basketball teams played at Alumni Gymnasium, a 2,800-seat arena built in 1924 and still standing just down the street.

Facade in 2008

References

1 2 "Memorial Coliseum". University of Kentucky. Retrieved 2010-03-12. A one million dollar renovation was completed in 1990, when a state-of-the-art weight training facility, new basketball and athletics administration offices, a players' lounge, and a team meeting room were added. As a result of the renovation, the seating capacity was reduced from 12,000 to 10,000.
↑ "Kentucky Hosts UNLV Tuesday Night". WKYT-TV. 2009-03-15. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
↑ Tipton, Jerry (2009-03-18). "Cats clutch in coliseum". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
↑ "2009 NIT Ticket Information". 2009-03-15. Retrieved 2009-03-16.

External links

University of Kentucky

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Athletics	Southeastern Conference Baseball Basketball (Men's – Women's) Basketbowl "Big Blue Nation" Cheerleading Squad Cliff Hagan Stadium Commonwealth Stadium Football (Governor's Cup) Joe Craft Center Kentucky Fight Kentucky–Louisville rivalry Kentucky Wildcats Memorial Coliseum On, On, U of K Soccer (Men's – Women's) Stoll Field/McLean Stadium UK Sports Network Soccer Complex University Club of Kentucky Wildcat Marching Band

Campus	Arboretum Art Museum Botanical Garden Buildings Maine Chance Farm Medical Center Residence Halls Singletary Center for the Arts

People	Alumni Athletic Directors Faculty Presidents Eli Capilouto (President)

Student life	Fraternities The Kentucky Kernel Sororities UKTV WRFL-FM WUKY-FM

Miscellaneous	Linux Athlon Testbed Solar Car Team Transportation Center

Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball

Venues	State College Gymnasium (1903–1914) Buell Armory Gymnasium (1910–1924) Alumni Gymnasium (1924–1950) Memorial Coliseum (1950–1976) Rupp Arena (1976–present) Joe Craft Center (practice)

Rivalries	Centre College (historical) Florida Georgetown College (historical) Indiana Louisville North Carolina Tennessee Transylvania (historical)

Culture & lore	Basketbowl Champions Classic Fabulous Five "The Shot" The Unforgettables History under Adolph Rupp The Rivalry: Red v. Blue 2011 game vs. Indiana

People	Head coaches Honored players Honorees NBA draftees Players Recruiting history

Seasons	1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17

Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics; NCAA championships in bolded italics

Basketball arenas of the Southeastern Conference

Coleman Coliseum (Alabama, men's)
Foster Auditorium (Alabama, women's)
Bud Walton Arena (Arkansas)
Auburn Arena (Auburn)
O'Connell Center (Florida)
Stegeman Coliseum (Georgia)
Rupp Arena (Kentucky, men's)
Memorial Coliseum (Kentucky, women's)
Maravich Assembly Center (LSU)
Humphrey Coliseum (Mississippi State)
Mizzou Arena (Missouri)
The Pavilion at Ole Miss (Ole Miss)
Colonial Life Arena (South Carolina)
Thompson–Boling Arena (Tennessee)
Reed Arena (Texas A&M)
Memorial Gymnasium (Vanderbilt)

College basketball venues in Kentucky

Division I

ACC	KFC Yum! Center (Louisville)

C-USA	E. A. Diddle Arena (WKU)

Horizon	BB&T Arena (Northern Kentucky)

OVC	CFSB Center (Murray State) Ellis Johnson Arena (Morehead State) Alumni Coliseum (Eastern Kentucky)

SEC	Rupp Arena (Kentucky men) Memorial Coliseum (Kentucky women)

Division II

G-MAC	Alumni Gymnasium (Georgetown) Owensboro Sportscenter (Kentucky Wesleyan)

GLVC	Knights Hall (Bellarmine)

SIAC	William Exum Center (Kentucky State)

Division III

Heartland	Clive M. Beck Center (Transylvania)

Independent	Seabury Center (Berea)

Presidents	Connor Convocation Center (Thomas More)

SAA	Alumni Gymnasium (Centre)

NAIA

Appalachian	John M. Robsion Arena (Union)

Mid-South	Biggers Sports Center (Lindsey Wilson) Eastern Kentucky Exposition Center (Pikeville) O. Wayne Rollins Center (Cumberlands) Powell Athletic Center (Campbellsville)

River States	Campus Center (Brescia) George E. Luce Physical Activities Center (Asbury) Grady Nutt Athletic Center (Alice Lloyd) Marshall Gymnasium (Midway)

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Memorial Coliseum (University of Kentucky)

See also

References

External links