![]() Thomas was a superstar point guard, Tolbert and Turner formed a fearsome inside tandem, and Wittman and Kitchel were great outside shooters, said Chuck Crabb, who took over public address announcer duties for Assembly Hall in the fall of 1977, replacing Bert Laws after about 40 years. That Knight-coached squad featured future NBA All-Star and Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas, Ray Tolbert, Landon Turner, Randy Wittman and Ted Kitchel. The ’77 and ’79 games didn’t include IU, but the ’81 Mideast Regional did. “It became a temple of basketball after Coach Knight arrived,” Capshew said.Īssembly Hall hosted Mideast Regional quarterfinal games in 1977, Mideast Regional second-round games in 1979 and the Mideast Regional semifinals and final in 1981. The year that Assembly Hall opened is also the year that Robert Montgomery Knight took over as IU’s men’s basketball coach. The interior view of the building is notable, he added, because the component parts are plainly visible, including the flying buttresses on the north and south sides. The design by New York-based firm Eggers and Higgins is like a compressed version of Memorial Stadium, covered by a saddle-type suspension roof and considered mid-1960s Modern, said Clapacs, a former IU athletic director and university vice president. Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall is the largest indoor seating venue on campus, IU historian James Capshew said. Terry Clapacs’ book “Indiana University Bloomington: America’s Legacy Campus.” Planning for the original venue, envisioned for large audience events, started in the late 1960s, according to J. It was rededicated as Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in 2016 after a $40 million renovation. The original Assembly Hall opened in 1971 at a cost of $26.6 million. ![]() Photos courtesy of IU Archives by Jacob Kriese, Indiana University IU Archives presidents, and a long list of legendary rock ‘n’ roll artists and entertainers.ĭolson said that serving as an NCAA tournament host is a special opportunity, and he hopes the iconic venue helps the participating teams come away with memorable experiences. That history also includes hosting a who’s who of dignitaries, including former U.S. There’s such a tremendous feel, a feel of history.” “When people visit here, people are in awe to walk into the building, to look up to the rafters and see the banners. “What I think is so exciting is Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall is such an iconic building,” IU Athletic Director Scott Dolson said. ![]() However, a maximum of 500 spectators – mostly immediate family members of players and team staff – will be allowed. Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall will host NCAA First Four and first-round games March 18 to 20 – the first time in 40 years it has hosted NCAA tournament games. With Indianapolis and Central Indiana serving as the host community for the entire 68-team tournament because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA sought venues that would offer a special experience for the participating teams – albeit without the big crowds. Of course, that “Wow!” factor is what the NCAA had in mind when it asked IU to host some of its Division I men’s basketball tournament games at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Then there are the five large, red banners hanging from the rafters that represent IU’s men’s basketball national championship teams from 1940, 1953, 1976, 19. And the 17,222-seat venue, which is marking its 50th year, is home to the largest student section in the country. has more seating on the sides of the court. Photo by John Sims, Indiana University Athletics ![]() Getting any of them to Indiana would still require some effort.Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, which is in its 50th year, will host NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament games March 18 to 20. These three are all certainly more reasonable targets than the first three, and all three would be impressive hires. Here we move into a group of coaching targets that, while more realistic, would probably need some convincing to uproot to Bloomington, be it due to their current situations or contracts, or both. He’ll be 59 in December, so if there’s any part of Few that wants one more challenge in coaching, now is the time. He’s made the Bulldogs into one of the elite programs in the country, both in terms of results and in terms of player recruiting and development. He was a graduate assistant at Gonzaga in 1989-90, an assistant for nine years after that and head coach since 1999. Fans shouldn’t be too upset by that - no one has managed to lure the Pacific Northwest native out of Spokane, where Few has spent his entire coaching career. Indiana pursued Few hard in 2006, when it searched for Mike Davis’ replacement, but to no avail.
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