Ahearn Field House

Mike Ahearn Field House
"The Old Barn"
Location	1700 College Heights Road; Manhattan, Kansas 66506
Owner	Kansas State University
Operator	Kansas State University
Capacity	5,000 (volleyball); 12,220 (basketball, 1987)
Record attendance	5,287 (volleyball, 2003); 14,028 (basketball, 1951)
Construction
Broke ground	1949
Opened	December 9, 1950
Construction cost	$2 million
Tenants
	Kansas State Wildcats

Ahearn Field House is one of the athletic buildings on the campus of Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. It is currently home to the K-State volleyball team and indoor track and field squad, and houses facilities for the Department of Kinesiology and the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics.

The facility was named in honor of Michael F. Ahearn. Over the years 'Mike' Ahearn served Kansas State University in a variety of roles that included coach, professor, Head of the Department of Physical Education, and Director of Athletics. Kansas State's men's basketball team posted an all-time record in Ahearn Field House of 369-96 (.793), including six undefeated seasons.^[1]

History

By the late 1940s, it was obvious that Kansas State's 30-year-old gym, Nichols Hall, was inadequate for the increasingly popular basketball team. After the Wildcats advanced to the Final Four in 1948, it was not unheard of for students to climb into the rafters in order to watch the game. Not only was this situation uncomfortable, it was also unsafe.^[2] In the late-1940s, the Kansas State Legislature approved the construction of a new and much larger basketball facility, designed to overcome the capacity and safety shortcomings of Nichols Hall.

Opened in 1950 with a seating capacity of more than 14,000, Ahearn Field House was one of the first and largest purpose-built basketball arenas in the country.^[3] It was the largest arena in the state of Kansas until the construction of Allen Fieldhouse at the University of Kansas in 1955. Changing fire codes over the years forced changes to the seating arrangements that eventually reduced seating capacity to 11,700 for the 1987-1988 season. This was the final season in which K-State basketball games were held in Ahearn.

Ahearn Field House hosted the men's NCAA basketball tournament regional finals six times (1953, 1955, 1960, 1962, 1965, and 1969). It also hosted the national championship match for the 1974 AIAW Women's Basketball Tournament, as well as a quarterfinal game in the 1976 NIT.

Ahearn Field House provided a legendary homecourt advantage for K-State. Former Kansas State coach Tex Winter said in his biography Trial By Basketball: "Kansas State won a lot of ballgames because of that crowd. Many times during timeouts you couldn't hear yourself talk. All I could do was scribble a play on the floor. The crowd there never died, even in one of our lulls – the crowd would come alive and pick us up."

The total men's basketball attendance from 1950 to 1988 was over 4,839,796.

Ahearn today

By the mid-1970s, university administration decided that the basketball teams needed a new home. In 1979, KSU began raising money for what would become Bramlage Coliseum, which became the new home of the basketball teams in 1988.

Over the years Ahearn has been modified to accommodate a variety of other activities, ranging from additional classroom space to providing venues for other intercollegiate sports such as indoor track and field and volleyball. Ahearn has also hosted NCAA volleyball tournament games four times since 1996.

References

^ All-time record
^ http://www.cis.k-state.edu/about/nichols
^ Fact Archived November 30, 2010, at the Wayback Machine

External links

Official website

Preceded by None	Home of the Kansas State Wildcats women's basketball 1968–1988	Succeeded by Bramlage Coliseum
Preceded by None	Home of the Kansas State Wildcats Volleyball 1974 –present	Succeeded by None

39°11′20.4″N 96°35′02.5″W / 39.189000°N 96.584028°W / 39.189000; -96.584028

[1] All-time record

[2] ttp://www.cis.k-state.edu/about/nichols

[3] Fact Archived November 30, 2010, at the Wayback Machine

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Kansas State University
Academics	College of Agriculture College of Engineering School of Journalism and Mass Communications College of Veterinary Medicine Branch campuses K-State Salina Aerospace and Technology Campus (Salina) K-State Olathe (Olathe) Buildings Anderson Hall Hale Library Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art
Athletics	Big 12 Conference Kansas State Wildcats Football Men's Basketball Women's Basketball Baseball Volleyball KSU Marching Band Sunflower Showdown Governor's Cup Iowa State–Kansas State football rivalry Facilities Bill Snyder Family Stadium Bramlage Coliseum Ahearn Field House Tointon Family Stadium Memorial Stadium Colbert Hills
Culture	Notable people Landon Lecture Series Willie the Wildcat Aggieville Wildcat Victory Wabash Cannonball Alma Mater Kansas Wildcats (march) Media The Collegian Royal Purple KKSU (AM) KSDB (FM) KKSU-LD
Student life	K-State Student Union Housing Derby Dining Center Ford Hall Goodnow Hall Haymaker Hall Kramer Food Center Marlatt Hall Moore Hall West Hall
History	Blue Mont Central College Land-grant university Joseph Denison List of oldest buildings on Kansas colleges and universities
Established: 1863 – Endowment: $488.9 million – Students: 22,795 (fall 2017)

v t e Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball
Venues	Manhattan YMCA (1902–1911) Nichols Hall (1911–1950) Ahearn Field House (1950–1988) Bramlage Coliseum (1988–present)
Rivalries	Kansas
Culture & lore	Willie the Wildcat "Kansas Wildcats" "Wabash Cannonball" Wildcat Victory The Pride of Wildcat Land
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of 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 1999–2000 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 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

History

Ahearn today

See also

References

External links