The Sanford Pentagon (colloquially known as The Pentagon) is an

indoor arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectator ...

located in Sioux Falls,

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large po ...

. The Pentagon opened in September 2013 and has a seating capacity of 3,250 spectators. It hosts the

Sioux Falls Skyforce The Sioux Falls Skyforce are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and are affiliated with the Miami Heat. The team plays their home games in the Sanford Pentagon, a place they have call ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA D ...

. The facility is known for hosting a wide range of sporting events including: regional youth basketball tournaments,

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athleti ...

basketball games,

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

basketball games and tournaments,

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incor ...

events, and occasional concerts.

Major events

2013

The Pentagon's first major event was hosted on October 10, 2013. The

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

played the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 196 ...

in the main court as a preseason exhibition game, and television coverage was provided by

Fox Sports North Bally Sports North is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, and operates as a Bally Sports affiliate. The channel broadcasts coverage of sporting events involving teams located in the Upper Midwest region, with a focu ...

. The Wolves defeated the Bucks by a score of 98–89 in front of an announced crowd of 3,250. On November 8, 2013, the Pentagon hosted its first

men's basketball game between the then 20th ranked

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin). They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level ( Football Bowl Subdivis ...

and the St. John's Red Storm. The game was televised on the

Big Ten Network Big Ten Network (BTN) is an American sports network based in Chicago, Illinois. The channel is dedicated to coverage of collegiate sports sanctioned by the Big Ten Conference, including live and recorded event telecasts, news, analysis programs ...

. Wisconsin won the game 86–75 in front of a sellout crowd of 3,523.

2014

On November 18, 2014, the Pentagon hosted an early season non-conference

basketball game between the then 11th ranked

Wichita State Shockers The Wichita State Shockers are the athletic teams that represent Wichita State University, located in Wichita, Kansas, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the American Athletic Conference (A ...

and the

Memphis Tigers The Memphis Tigers are the athletic teams that represent the University of Memphis, located in Memphis, Tennessee. The teams compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the American Athletic C ...

. The game was televised by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

as part of their Tip-Off Marathon programming. The Shockers won that game 71–56 in front of a sellout crowd. On November 30, 2014, the

South Dakota State Jackrabbits The South Dakota State Jackrabbits are the 19 intercollegiate teams representing South Dakota State University that compete in the U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I (for football: Football Championship Subdivision). SDSU ...

took on the

Florida Gulf Coast Eagles The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (also FGCU) refer to the fifteen College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Florida Gulf Coast University, located in Fort Myers, Florida in intercollegiate athletics, inclu ...

, winning 71–58. The announced attendance was 3,250 and coverage was provided by

. For the third and final

basketball game of the 2014–15 season at the Sanford Pentagon, the

UNLV Runnin' Rebels The UNLV Runnin' Rebels are the men's basketball team that represent the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in the Mountain West Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); it plays at the Thomas & Mack Center on campus. A ...

played the

South Dakota Coyotes The South Dakota Coyotes, also known as the USD Coyotes (locally pronounced ; ), are the athletic teams for the University of South Dakota. Their team colors are vermilion and white. They have been members of Summit League of the NCAA's Division ...

on December 13, 2014. UNLV won the game 75-61 and the game was televised by Midco Sports Network and

ESPN3 ESPN3 (formerly ESPN360 and ESPN3.com) is an online streaming service owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications ( ...

2015

On March 16, 2015, it was announced that the Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team would play the

Colorado Buffaloes The Colorado Buffaloes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Colorado. The university sponsors 17 varsity sports teams. Both the men's and women's teams are called the Buffaloes (Buffs for short) or, rarely, the Golden Buffaloe ...

men's basketball team on November 13, 2015, in an early season non-conference match-up.

2020

An early-season Division I basketball tournament—the Crossover Classic—was announced for the Pentagon in 2020. It serves as a ''de facto'' replacement for the

Battle 4 Atlantis The Battle 4 Atlantis is an early-season college basketball tournament. It takes place at Atlantis Paradise Island on Paradise Island in The Bahamas, on the week of the US holiday of Thanksgiving. For sponsorship purposes, the tournament is of ...

tournament in

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of the Bahamas. With a population of 274,400 as of 2016, or just over 70% of the entire population of the Bahamas, Nassau is commonly defined as a primate city, dwarfing all other towns in the country. ...

, which was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. Most of the teams that were invited to said tournament were invited to the Crossover Classic. The site was also home to the Dakota Showcase, which hosted all four division one teams from the Dakotas. This included

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, ...

North Dakota State North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North ...

South Dakota State South Dakota State University is a public land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest and most comprehensive university and the oldest continually-operating university in South Dakota. ...

, and

Annual/Recurring

On December 11, 2013, it was announced that the Sanford Pentagon would be home to multiple

championships. These include the 2017 and 2018 NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Championships, the 2015, 2016, and 2018

NCAA Women's Division II Basketball Championship The NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament (officially styled as "Championship" instead of "Tournament") is an annual tournament to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II women's college basketball nati ...

s (except for the championship final in 2016, which will be held at

Bankers Life Fieldhouse A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Becaus ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

), and the 2016 and 2020

NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Championship The NCAA Division II women's volleyball tournament is the annual event that decides the championship contested by the NCAA. It determines the national champion of Division II women's collegiate volleyball. It has been held annually since 1981, t ...

. Beginning in 2018, it will also be the home to the

NAIA Division II men's basketball championship The NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Championship is the former NAIA Men's Basketball Championships, tournament held by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, NAIA to determine the national champion of men's college basketball a ...

. Beginning in 2014, it is also home to the NSIC (

Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the western Midwestern United States. Nine of its ...

) conference basketball tournament.Sanford Pentagon: Anticipation nears reality for new sports arena
/ref> The NSIC is an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

Division II conference with schools located mainly in Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota.

References

External links

Official Site
{{Coord, 43.593056, -96.758611, display=title, type:landmark_region:US-SD Basketball venues in South Dakota College basketball venues in the United States College volleyball venues in the United States Indoor arenas in South Dakota Mixed martial arts venues in the United States Sports venues in Sioux Falls, South Dakota NBA G League venues Sioux Falls Skyforce 2013 establishments in South Dakota