WVU Coliseum

West Virginia University Coliseum
Location	Monongahela Boulevard; Morgantown, WV 26505
Coordinates	39°38′57″N 79°58′52″W / 39.64917°N 79.98111°W
Owner	West Virginia University
Operator	West Virginia University
Capacity	14,000
Surface	Hardwood
Construction
Broke ground	December 21, 1968
Opened	December 1, 1970
Construction cost	$10.4 million; ($81.6 million in 2023 dollars)
Architect	Silling Associates, Inc.
General contractor	McDevitt & Street Co.
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)

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.

The Coliseum, which opened in 1970, has more than 10.5 million cubic feet (300,000 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 3,000-square-foot (280 m²) 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 poor sound quality was purposeful, as it was the intention of the designers to cup 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. 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^[2]^[3] 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 National Basketball Association 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 Seating Section 44 with "Jerry West 44" written on it. Hot Rod Hundley's number 33 also is retired and hangs from the walls.

In 1999-2000, the school was forced to play a year of games split between Wheeling and Charleston, West Virginia, 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 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.

Top Crowds at the Coliseum

16,704 - Pittsburgh @ #6 West Virginia - February 24, 1982
15,638 - #1 UNLV @ West Virginia - February 27, 1983 on CBS
15,593 - #4 Villanova @ #5 West Virginia - February 8, 2010 on ESPN
15,419 - #21 Pittsburgh @ #6 West Virginia - February 3, 2010
15,409 - Marshall @ West Virginia - December 4, 1982
15,299 - Pittsburgh @ West Virginia - January 31, 1981
15,289 - #3 Oklahoma @ #10 West Virginia - February 20, 2016 on ESPN ^[4]
15,271 - #5 Syracuse @ #9 West Virginia - January 16, 2010 on ESPN
15,193 - #6 Georgetown @ West Virginia - December 2, 1996
15,167 - #6 UConn @ #16 West Virginia - February 11, 1998 on ESPN
15,118 - #3 Notre Dame @ West Virginia- February 17, 1979
15,033 - #21 Ohio State @ #11 West Virginia - January 23, 2010 on CBS
15,032 - #11 Louisville @ West Virginia - March 5, 2011 on ESPN

Year by Year Results

West Virginia Men's Basketball

Year	Record	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	Coliseum Closed for Asbestos Removal	N/A
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

References

^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^ Varsity Pride: 1975 ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments
^ Varsity Pride: 1976 ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments
^ http://www.wvusports.com/content/files/Boxscores/mbasketball/mbbbox22016.pdf

External links

[inflation-US-1] 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.

[2] Varsity Pride: 1975 ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments

[3] Varsity Pride: 1976 ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments

[4] ttp://www.wvusports.com/content/files/Boxscores/mbasketball/mbbbox22016.pdf

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e West Virginia University
Located in: Morgantown, West Virginia
Academics	Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources John Chambers College of Business & Economics College of Creative Arts College of Education & Human Resources College of Physical Activity & Sports Sciences Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design Eberly College of Arts & Sciences Honors College Reed College of Media School of Nursing School of Pharmacy College of Law School of Dentistry School of Medicine School of Public Health
Campus facilities	Boreman Hall Coliseum Core Arboretum Downtown Library Monongalia County Ballpark Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit Mountaineer Field Mountainlair Oglebay Hall Stansbury Hall J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital
Divisions and affiliates	WVU Institute of Technology Potomac State College WVU Medicine
Athletics	Mountaineers Baseball Basketball men women Football Rifle Soccer (men) Soccer (women) Hail, West Virginia
People	Notable alumni
History	History of WVU M.B.A. controversy
Founded: 1867

v t e West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball
Venues	WVU Fieldhouse (1929–1970) WVU Coliseum (1970–present)
Rivalries	Cincinnati Marshall Pittsburgh
Culture & lore	The Mountaineer
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–14 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 1999–2000 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 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics