The L. Stockwell Jadwin Gymnasium is a 6,854-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 ...
at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
in
Princeton, New Jersey
The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...
. The arena opened in 1969. It is home to the
Princeton Tigers college basketball
College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...
teams. It replaced
Dillon Gymnasium, the home of Princeton
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
wrestling
Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...
, as the fifth main basketball arena on campus.
In 1965, the mother of Leander Stockwell Jadwin, class of 1928, gave a gift of $27 million to the university in his name. He had been the captain of the track team and had died just months after graduation in an automobile accident. The school decided to use $6.5 million towards the building of the gymnasium, which had just barely been started.
The gymnasium, designed by the architect
Walker O. Cain, has of floor space on five levels for multiple sports. It is notable for its unique roof consisting of three interlocking shells. The seating is highly asymmetrical, with bleachers on three sides and a concrete grandstand on the fourth side, holding the majority of the seats. Behind the opposite bleachers lies the void of the indoor track, which itself sits atop an indoor baseball field and three additional levels underneath. This creates challenges for generating noise and atmosphere even when the stands are full compared to other gyms in the
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...
, which are mostly smaller and more traditional in their layout. The television cameras also are mounted on the large grandstand side, which makes Jadwin seem smaller on television.
Many of the highest attended events in Jadwin were college and high school wrestling tournaments, the 1975 NCAA Wrestling tournament drew a total of 45,000 (then the record) for six sessions, with 9,600 attending the finals. Six years later, Princeton brought in more temporary seating and averaged at least 1,000 more per session. For many years Jadwin Gymnasium was the site of the New Jersey State High School wrestling tournament, with many sessions of 8,000 to 10,000 fans.
Jadwin Gymnasium hosted games of the first round of the
NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the NCAA Division I, Di ...
twice, in
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
and
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
. It was the site of the
ECAC Metro Region tournament organized by the
Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) in
1976
Events January
* January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 18 – Full diplomatic ...
. Jadwin hosted the 2023 Ivy League
men's and
women's basketball tournaments, which were both won by the homestanding Tigers.
The Jadwin Jungle is the official
student cheering section and basketball booster group in Jadwin Gymnasium for the Princeton Tigers basketball teams, located in the bleachers closest to the court behind the scorers' tables. The cheering section was founded in 2003 by three Princeton undergraduates and quickly grew to be the largest student group on campus.
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
Jadwin Gymnasium, from Princeton.edu
{{Authority control
College basketball venues in New Jersey
Princeton Tigers sports venues
Princeton Tigers basketball
1969 establishments in New Jersey
Sports venues completed in 1969
College indoor track and field venues in the United States
Fencing venues
Squash venues in the United States
Tennis venues in New Jersey
Athletics (track and field) venues in New Jersey