The Walter A. Haas Jr. Pavilion is an indoor arena on the campus of the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

in Berkeley. It is the home venue of the Golden Bears 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 ...

, 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 Summ ...

, and men's and women's

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

teams. The arena is located in the middle of the main sports complex, overlooking Evans Diamond (baseball) and Edwards Stadium (track/soccer).

History

The arena was originally opened in 1933 as the Gymnasium for Men or Men's Gym; it was renamed Harmon Gym in 1959, after

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

financier A.K.P. Harmon, who donated the funds to build Cal's first indoor athletic facility in 1879. When Lou Campanelli arrived in Berkeley in 1985, he tried to change Harmon's name to Harmon Arena, but it never caught on. One change Campanelli made that stuck, however, was renaming the playing surface Pete Newell Court in 1987 in honor of head coach Pete Newell, who led Cal to the

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

. The floor had been known as simply "Room 100" since Harmon opened.

Renovation

Proposals for replacing the old gym were bandied about from the 1970s onward, but sentiment was strongly in favor of rebuilding it instead. As a result, the arena was heavily renovated from 1997 to 1999 after a donation of about $11 million from Walter A. Haas, Jr. of Levi Strauss & Co., building a new seating bowl within the existing walls. The new facility retains the intimate atmosphere of its predecessor, while having almost two times the

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

at 11,858 (originally 12,300 and later 11,877). In particular, there are no soundproofing devices. The arena contains The Bench, a courtside section that holds approximately 900 student fans. The amount of student seating doubled from the old arena, up to 2,600 from 1,300. It also holds the Pacific-10 Women's Basketball attendance record of 10,525 people, set during a game against rival Stanford University on February 23, 2008. The renovation, which cost $57.5 million, began after the final home game in March 1997 and was finished for the start of the 1999 season. During the construction, the basketball teams played at both the Kaiser Convention Center and the

Oakland Arena Oakland Arena, often referred to as the Oakland Coliseum Arena, is an List of indoor arenas, indoor arena in Oakland, California, and part of the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Authority. Opened in 1966, the arena was originally home to the C ...

Notable games

On December 22, 2018, the 14th ranked California Bears Women's basketball team faced the number 1 ranked University of Connecticut Huskies Women's basketball team. The Connecticut women's basketball team prevailed 76-66 at Haas Pavilion. The game set attendance records at Haas Pavilion with over 10,000 fans in attendance. The 2009 men's basketball game between Cal and arch rival

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

on February 14 was part of a special celebration commemorating the 100th season of

Golden Bear The Golden Bear () is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival and is, along with the Palme d'Or and the Golden Lion, the most important international film festival award. The bear is the heraldic an ...

basketball, as well as a recognition of the 50th anniversary of Cal's national title in 1959. On February 28, 2009, ESPN's College Gameday made its first appearance in Berkeley broadcasting live from inside Haas Pavilion for the men's basketball game against the #18

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

. Cal lost despite a large turnout. On January 21, 2009, Comcast Sportsnet Bay Area's Chronicle Live filmed their show inside Haas for the men's basketball game against

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, which Cal would win. Chronicle Live Host Greg Papa also called the play-by-play for the game which was televised on Comcast Sportsnet California.

Retired jerseys

* # 13 - Colleen Galloway (1978–80) Retired February 17, 1981 * # 11 - Kevin Johnson (1984–87) Retired October 22, 1992 * # 4 - Alfred Grigsby (1992–97) Retired March 8, 1997 * # 5 -

Jason Kidd Jason Frederick Kidd (born March 23, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the List of current NBA head coaches, head coach for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regar ...

(1992–94) Retired February 14, 2004 * # 40 - Darrall Imhoff (1958–60) Retired February 14, 2009

References

External links