UD Arena ready to make NCAA Men’s Hoop History
By Mickey Shuey (Photos by Erik Schelkun/Elsestar Images)
DAYTON, Ohio — Breaking records, much like breaking ground for a new building, is a difficult task… unless you know what you’re doing.
Such is the case for the University of Dayton Arena, which now sits on the brink of NCAA men’s basketball history. By the time the first game of the 2011 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament ends on March 15 a new threshold will have been broken.
Having housed 83 tournament games since opening in 1969, the arena is tied with Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium for the most tournament games hosted in NCAA tournament history. With the inaugural First Four being awarded to Dayton, however, the Arena will break the Auditorium’s 47-year-old record in March of 2011.
“We always strive to do the best that we can,” said Tim Wabler, the university’s Director of Athletics. “In academics as well athletics, commitment to excellence is the backbone of all we do.”
Saint Thomas
This excellence, said Wabler, is a result of the legacy Tom Frericks established in his time as head of the athletic administration years ago. Under his guidance, Dayton not only built its own arena, but also molded a relationship with the NCAA that has endured several decades.
Frericks took the idea of hosting to the NCAA’s tournament committee in January of 1970, while attending a convention. After stating his case in a crammed hotel room, Frericks sat in the hallway, awaiting the committee’s decision. Within ten minutes, he was informed that UD Arena would, in fact, be hosting an opening round game for the first time in the university’s history.
As great of an honor as it was to host, Frericks didn’t have much time to prepare. The tournament UD Arena had been slated for was that March. Today, a school is informed of its status as a host site at least two years prior to the tournament it is planned to supervise.
Nevertheless, a sold-out crowd of 13,455 packed the arena in hopes of seeing a good game. Instead, they saw records break that still stand today, as Austin Carr led Notre Dame to a win over Ohio University, scoring 61 points in the process.
From letters found in the University of Dayton Archives, it is evident that Dayton had a hero in Frericks, especially in his efforts to keep the tournament connected to his university and city.
In one correspondence, dated June 10, 1983, Frericks wrote, “…we selfishly feel that we can do as good a job as anyone with the presentation of these games.” To that point, all but one tournament game hosted at UD Arena had been sold out.
Restoring the Gem City
In a city such as Dayton, whose estimated population is just over 158,000, there’s not much left to cheer about other than basketball. Granted, the city has one professional sports team in the Dragons, but for most a baseball game in the summer is nothing compared to being in an always-packed UD Arena, wondering what might happen next.
“This is more special for [the city of Dayton], I think, than it is for UD,” said University of Dayton president, Dan Curran. “It is a great way for our spectacular city to get national (and positive) exposure; the exposure it deserves to have.”
Curran said the NCAA continues to return to Dayton because the fans are always in full force, no matter who comes to play. Since the 1997-1998 season, Dayton has not gone lower than 28th on the average attendance rankings for men’s basketball home games.
While being a host site for NCAA events won’t singlehandedly rebuild Dayton, the city still has something to gain. Each time UD Arena puts on an NCAA event, income throughout the city increases. From bars and grills to hotels to museums, the increase in tourism gives the city a much-needed economic break.
Embracing History
One might see it fitting that when UD Arena rings in the NCAA’s new 68-team format in March, it will become the most storied host site in the 73-year history of the men’s basketball tournament.
But like most things in college basketball, that’s just how it goes.
Since hosting its first game 40-some years ago, the arena has been the focal point of several dramatic games. As the starting point of the national championship run by Villanova in 1985 to George Mason’s Cinderella run 20 years later, Dayton has become quite significant in the history of college basketball.
Greg Shaheen, the NCAA’s interim executive vice-president of championships and alliances, has been more than happy to give the University of Dayton its shot at making an impact year in and year out.
“The entire community and the leaders on the university’s campus have been extraordinary in rallying around this championship,” said Shaheen in an email.
“History,” Wabler said, “History can be made in the NCAA Tournament at any time. To be lucky enough to be the place it may happen is neat. But to be able to see the impossible happen year in and year out… That’s absolutely incredible.”
(Photos by Erik Schelkun/Elsestar Images)
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