Thompson–Boling Arena is a multi-purpose

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 spectato ...

on the campus of the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state ...

. The arena opened in 1987. It is home to the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Collegi ...

(men) and

Lady Vols The Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team represents the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee in NCAA women's basketball competition. The team has been a contender for national titles for over thirty years, having made every NCAA ...

(women)

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

teams. Since 2008, it has been home to the Lady Vols volleyball team. It is named after B. Ray Thompson and former university president Edward J. Boling. The basketball court is named "The Summitt" after the late Lady Vols basketball coach

Pat Summitt Patricia Susan Summitt (; June 14, 1952 – June 28, 2016) was an American women's college basketball head coach who accrued 1,098 career wins, the most in college basketball history at the time of her retirement. She served as the head coac ...

. It replaced the

Stokely Athletic Center The Stokely Athletic Center was an on-campus arena located at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States which was demolished in 2014. It was home to the men's and women's basketball teams from 1958 until the opening of Th ...

. The mammoth octagonal building lies just northwest of the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names ...

, and just southwest of

Neyland Stadium Neyland Stadium ( ), is a sports stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. It serves primarily as the home of the Tennessee Volunteers football team, but is also used to host large conventions and has been a site for several National Foot ...

. As an echo of its neighbor and a tribute to the brick-and-mortar pattern atop Ayres Hall, the baselines of the court are painted in the familiar orange-and-white

checkerboard A checkerboard (American English) or chequerboard (British English; see spelling differences) is a board of checkered pattern on which checkers (also known as English draughts) is played. Most commonly, it consists of 64 squares (8×8) of altern ...

pattern.

History

In terms of

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 th ...

, Thompson-Boling was at one time the largest facility ever built specifically for basketball in the United States with a

of 24,535 until its 2007 renovation. The current capacity is 21,678. The men's record crowd was 25,610 for a game against Kentucky on January 21, 1989, which is also the SEC record for a regular-season game. The Lady Vols' record crowd of 24,653, set at their win over archrival

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

on January 7, 2006, is also the all-time record for an NCAA regular-season women's game. The facility hosted the 1989

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

men's basketball tournament. It hosted games of the NCAA men's basketball tournament in 1990 (first and second rounds), 1994 (regional), and 1999 (regional), and the 1990 NCAA Women's Final Four. Since 2001, it has played host to Knoxville's Living Christmas Tree. In August 2006, ground was broken for the Pratt Pavilion, a basketball practice facility to be located adjacent to the arena. It was ready for use in early November, but not all exterior construction were finished. On November 30, 2006, plans were announced at utsports.com to add new renovations to Thompson–Boling Arena. Renovations included black seats, a center hung scoreboard, and concourse refurbishments, such as graphics and other amenities. Also added were luxury suites and loge seating. Construction began in March 2007. Phase I was finished in late October 2007 with an opening game against the

Temple Owls The Temple Owls are the athletic teams that represent Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The current athletic director is Arthur Johnson. The owl has been the symbol and mascot for Temple University since its founding in the 188 ...

of the

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Easte ...

. Phase II is scheduled to include a new lighting system, new ticket kiosks, and new food courts. The outer volume of Thompson–Boling Arena is approximately . During the 2006–2007 and the 2007–2008 year, the University of Tennessee Men's Basketball team went 16–0 in Thompson–Boling Arena. As of November 18, 2008, Bruce Pearl's home record at Thompson–Boling Arena was 47–2, a home winning percentage at Tennessee of 96%. On February 5, 2009, history was made at Thompson–Boling Arena, as the Tennessee Lady Vols defeated the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference ( ...

73–43, to give head coach

her 1,000th win. It is also a concert venue, holding up to 25,000 people. It has been Tennessee's largest arena since it was opened. Only

Greensboro Coliseum Complex The Greensboro Coliseum Complex, commonly referred to as Greensboro Coliseum (the first and biggest building on the site), is an entertainment and sports complex located in Greensboro, North Carolina. Opened in 1959, the complex holds eight venu ...

has had a larger capacity among other arenas in the Southeast.

References

External links

Official WebsiteUT Sports Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson-Boling Arena College basketball venues in the United States Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers basketball Basketball venues in Tennessee Sports venues in Knoxville, Tennessee University of Tennessee campus 1987 establishments in Tennessee Sports venues completed in 1987 College volleyball venues in the United States Indoor arenas in Tennessee

History

See also

References

External links