The William Leon Garrett Fieldhouse (previously called The Fieldhouse) is an on-campus gymnasium used for intramural sports at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. * Indiana Univers ...

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside the Indianapolis metropolitan area. According to the Mo ...

. It was formerly the home of the

Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball The Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team represents Indiana University Bloomington in NCAA Division I college basketball and competes in the Big Ten Conference. The Hoosiers play at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on the Branch McCracken Court in B ...

team.

Current use

Today the Fieldhouse, now called the William Leon Garrett Fieldhouse, has several rows of basketball courts. Because it is attached to the former School of Health, Physical Education & Recreation (HPER) it was referred to as the "hyper." As of 2012, the Indiana University School of HPER has been renamed the School of Public Health-Bloomington. In 2010, a women's locker room was added and the men's and faculty/staff locker rooms underwent renovations. On July 5, 2011 a roof fire caused major damage to the facility estimated to cost $3 million. As a result, substantial repairs and replacements were made to the damaged section of the roof, courts and track, lights, and windows. It did not re-open until the summer of 2012.

History

The Fieldhouse was built adjacent to the Men's Gymnasium as a venue to host the

team, whose popularity had outgrown the previous gymnasium. The basketball team first played in the Fieldhouse for the 1928–29 season. It served as the state of

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

's first true basketball stadium and was considered one of the classic venues in college basketball during its time. The Fieldhouse could seat up to 8,000 spectators and was later extended to seat 10,000. It provided extensive lighting on the floor and baskets, and also featured a center court press box that could seat 35 journalists and had 10 built-in telegraph wires. It originally cost $350,000 and was paid for with construction bonds and a $2.00 fee levied against each Indiana University student. The first game at the facility was held on December 8, 1928 when the Hoosiers face the

Washington Bears The Washington Bears were an all-black professional basketball team of the 1940s. Sponsored by movie theater owner Abe Lichtman, the Bears played their home games at Turner's Arena in Washington, DC.Claude Johnson.Forget Patriots: Check Out This ...

and lost 31–30. However, the dedication game for the Fieldhouse on December 13, 1928 saw a 34–26 victory over the Pennsylvania Quakers team. The dedication game was a sold-out gala that included Indiana Governor-elect

Harry Leslie Harry Guyer Leslie (April 6, 1878December 10, 1937) was an American politician and Indiana Republican Party member, speaker of the state house and the 33rd governor of the state. His term as governor was marked by the start of the Great Depressi ...

and Big Ten Conference Commissioner John L. Griffith. Indiana star player (and later coach)

Branch McCracken Emmett B. "Branch" McCracken (June 9, 1908 – June 4, 1970) was an American basketball player and coach. He served as the head basketball coach at Ball State University from 1930 to 1938 and at Indiana University Bloomington from 1938 to 1943 a ...

scored the first point in the facility with a free throw. McCracken went on to earn All-American honors the following season. He returned in the 1938–39 season to succeed

Everett Dean Everett Sterling Dean (March 18, 1898 – October 26, 1993) was an American college basketball and baseball coach. Biography Born in Livonia, Indiana, Dean played basketball for three years at Indiana University, where he was also a member of the ...

as coach of the men's basketball team. The facility saw six perfect seasons including a 24-game unbeaten home winning streak from 1938 to 1941. During the 1940s and 1950s McCracken's fast-breaking teams would earn the nickname "Hurryin' Hoosiers". Throughout the facility's tenure as home to the men's basketball team, the Fieldhouse hosted two national championship teams - in the 1939-40 and 1952-53 seasons - and five conference titles. The Hoosiers compiled a 234–74 record in the facility. Besides the two national titles, it was the home of five

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conferen ...

Championships, 20 All-Americans, 17 All-Big Ten First Team selections and three Big Ten Most Valuable Players. The final game was played on February 29, 1960 by an Indiana squad led by

Walt Bellamy Walter Jones Bellamy (July 24, 1939 – November 2, 2013) was an American professional basketball player. A four-time NBA All-Star, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. College career Bellamy chose to play baske ...

that defeated Big Ten champions

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

in a 99–83 victory (Ohio State went on to win the national championship). The basketball team moved out in 1960 to the "New" IU Fieldhouse before moving into the current home, now known as

Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall ( ), formerly named and still commonly referred to as Assembly Hall, is a 17,222-seat arena on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the home of the Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball and wo ...

, in 1971. The sports facility had been formerly named "Wildermuth Intramural Center" after Ora Wildermuth, a former university trustee who held "extraordinarily strong opposition to racial integration". The trustees had approved a recommendation to honor Bill Garrett, the "first black basketball player to regularly play in the

Big Ten conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conferen ...

", by renaming the facility to "William L. Garrett-Ora L. Wildermuth Intramural Center" on . However, the school announced four days later that it would not implement the change due to lack of support from Garrett's family. Eventually, in 2018, Wildermuth's name was stripped from the facility, and the trustees renamed the facility "Intramural Center". The facility was renamed to honor former IU All-American Bill Garrett in 2020.

References

External links

2005-06 IU Hoosiers Men's Basketball Media Guide

{{Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball navbox Sports venues in Indiana Defunct college basketball venues in the United States Indiana Hoosiers basketball venues 1928 establishments in Indiana