The War Memorial at the Sobrato Center in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

is an athletic venue on the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

(USF) campus. It contains War Memorial Gymnasium and serves as home for the San Francisco men's and women's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

teams as well as the women's

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

team. It also houses athletic department offices and training facilities for the university's other athletic teams. It is currently the oldest basketball venue in the

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...

. It is popularly known as "The Hilltop" because of USF's position on the summit of Lone Mountain. Prior to 1958, the USF basketball team had no permanent home. During the 1955 and 1956

NCAA championship 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 and ...

seasons,

Phil Woolpert Philipp D. Woolpert (December 15, 1915 – May 5, 1987) was an American basketball coach, best known as the head coach of the University of San Francisco Dons in the 1950s. He led them to consecutive national championships in 1955 Biography Bor ...

's teams had to practice and play home games at either nearby Kezar Pavilion in

Golden Gate Park Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, United States, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. It is administered by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department, which began in 1871 to oversee the developm ...

or the gym at neighboring St. Ignatius High School. The aftermath of USF's back-to-back national championships spurred a fund-raising effort that ultimately made building an on-campus venue possible and in 1958, War Memorial Gym opened its doors. Originally serving all of USF's athletic needs, War Memorial Gym also hosted occasional games for the

San Francisco Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 1 ...

from 1962 to 1967. Upon the arrival of women's sports on campus, War Memorial Gym also became the home of the women's basketball and volleyball teams. Though the gym missed the Russell and Jones era by three years, it was the home of the great Dons teams of the late 1970s led by

Bill Cartwright James William Cartwright (born July 30, 1957) is an American former professional basketball player and a former head coach of the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A 7'1" (2.16 m) center, he played 16 seasons for the N ...

, Phil Smith and

Quintin Dailey Quintin "Q" Dailey (January 22, 1961 – November 8, 2010) was an American professional basketball player. A 6'3" guard who played collegiately at the University of San Francisco, he later went on to a career in the NBA, playing for the Chicago Bu ...

(though some high-profile matches were held at the

Cow Palace The Cow Palace (originally the California State Livestock Pavilion) is an indoor arena located in Daly City, California, situated on the city's northern border with neighboring San Francisco. Because the border passes through the property, a por ...

or the

Oakland Arena Oakland Arena is an indoor arena located in Oakland, California, United States. From its opening in 1966 until 1996, it was known as the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena. After a major renovation completed in 1997, the arena was renamed T ...

). In 1989, with the construction of the Koret Health and Recreation Center, War Memorial became exclusively an athletic venue, though most student-athlete training facilities continue to be housed in the Moran Center beneath the gym. Dedicated to the USF alumni killed in action in war, the War Memorial Gym currently seats 3,005 spectators. Above the court can be seen banners commemorating USF's national and conference championships in basketball, including titles won by the women's basketball team in their old conference, the Northern California Athletic Conference. Players' retired numbers can also be found, including banners for

Pete Newell Peter Francis Newell (August 31, 1915 – November 17, 2008) was an American college men's basketball coach and basketball instructional coach. He coached for 15 years at the University of San Francisco, Michigan State University, and the Univer ...

and

. The gym's foyer houses a mini-hall of fame, displaying trophies and memorabilia from USF's athletic history. War Memorial Gym, San Francisco

The 1998 episode of ''

Teletubbies ''Teletubbies'' is a British children's television series created by Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport for the BBC. The programme focuses on four differently coloured characters known as the Teletubbies, named after the television screens on t ...

'' entitled, "Basketball", was filmed at the Sobrato Center where Phil Mathews and his son, Jordan were featured in a segment playing basketball. In 2008 and 2009, USF made upgrades to the gym. The old floor, which was the original installation, was replaced, along with the bleacher seating in the upper level. The old baskets were replaced with stand-alone versions, and new banners were installed. In 2015, it was announced that over a span of three to four years, another series of renovations would be made once again to the gym, mostly taking place during the basketball teams' offseason periods. This $15 million project is funded by Silicon Valley businesspersons

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

and Susan Sobrato, thus bearing the namesake for the gym and its practice facilities. A club level was introduced with seating near the University Center, restrooms were remodeled, and an elevator was installed while improving the seismic integrity of the building. A museum of USF's athletic history tied with its Jesuit Catholic values will be added with the project. Renovations over the summer of 2019 included the installation of four Daktronics video boards in each corner of the facility. On November 9, 2019, the USF Dons defeated the Princeton Tigers 82-72 in the first college basketball game ever played at the

Chase Center Chase Center is an indoor arena in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The building is the home venue for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and occasionally for the University of San ...

. War Memorial Gym was also the site of

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

's first national college basketball broadcast, a 1982 match-up between USF and the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. It hosted the 1987, 1989, and 1993

men's basketball tournaments.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sobrato Center San Francisco Dons basketball venues Sports venues in San Francisco Basketball venues in California College basketball venues in the United States Former National Basketball Association venues San Francisco Warriors venues World War II memorials in the United States Monuments and memorials in California 1958 establishments in California College volleyball venues in the United States Volleyball venues in California Sports venues completed in 1958

See also

References