The Joseph J. Gentile Arena, formerly known as the Joseph J. Gentile Center or "The Joe", is a 4,486-seat multi-purpose
arena
An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...
on the campus of
Loyola University in
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. The arena opened in 1996. It is the home of the
Loyola Ramblers 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 (appro ...
programs. Renovations at the facility began in the summer of 2011.
On March 3, 2011, the $26 million Norville Center for Intercollegiate Athletics opened adjacent to the Gentile Arena. The Norville Center houses the university's athletic training facilities, locker rooms, as well as the offices of the athletic department that were formerly housed in Alumni Gym.
The Gentile Center was the site of the 1999
Midwestern Collegiate Conference
The Horizon League is a collegiate athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the league's eleven member schools are located in and near the Great Lakes region and in pa ...
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
women's volleyball tournament.
The Gentile Center was also the site of the 2014 NCAA Men's Collegiate Volleyball Championships on May 1 and May 3, 2014.
Joe Gentile was a Chicago area
car dealer
A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...
who donated money to the university for the arena.
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See also
*
List of NCAA Division I basketball arenas
This is a list of arenas that currently serve as the home venue for NCAA Division I college basketball teams. Conference affiliations reflect those in the 2024–25 season; all affiliation changes officially took effect on July 1, 2024. The aren ...
References
External links
Gentile Arena Profile at LoyolaRamblers.com
College basketball venues in Illinois
Basketball venues in Chicago
Loyola Ramblers basketball
1996 establishments in Illinois
Sports venues completed in 1996
College volleyball venues in the United States
Volleyball venues in Chicago
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