History:

The historic Mckale Center located on our beautiful University of Arizona campus. McKale Center is named for J.F. (Pop) McKale who was a major athletic figure at the University of Arizona from 1914 to 1957. For a while he was the head coach of all of the school's athletic teams. This Tucson historical sports monument broke ground in 1970 and opened in 1973 and has been entertaining crowds ever since.

In 2000 the University named the court Lute Olson Court and in 2001 during a memorial service for the late Bobbi Olson, the court was renamed Lute and Bobbi Olson Court. This honor was in recognition of the couples impact on the University and the City of Tucson.

Mckale's atmosphere rivals all other college basketball arenas seen through out the country and to no surprise leads attendance in the Pac-12 basketball conference. Mckale is the second largest arena in the Pac-12 behind the Utes of Utah, although Arizona has a higher attendance.  The largest crowd ever recorded was back in 1976 where an astonishing 15,176 Wildcat lovers showed up to cheer their beloved squad against a touch New Mexico Lobo squad. The all time average attendance seen since 1973 is approximately 12,982. These numbers have taken off ever since that Cats moved out of bear down gymnasium back in 1972.

The Arizona Athletics Department is on the southeast side of the University and is located in ,McKale Center which is currently being renovated. The project will be completed in several phases between 2014-2017 at a cost of $80 million. The renovations for McKale Center include the addition of the Eddie Lynch Athletics Pavilion, the Jim Click Hall of Champions, the Bill Estes Strength and Conditioning Center, the Kasser Medical Center, the Albert and David Cohn Academic Service Center, the women's locker rooms and the Bob and Olga Strauss Computer Services Center.(2)

Student-athletes from each of Arizona Athletics 19 sport programs train in McKale Center, the home of the Wildcats. Arizona men's basketball, women's basketball, volleyball and gymnastics teams compete in McKale's arena, while the remainder of the Wildcat teams compete in nearby venues.

The Arizona Wildcats mens basketball have won one National Championship in 1997. That year the wildcats went 19-9 during the regular season and finished 5th place in the Pac-10. During their run they took on and won 3 #1 teams, the only team to ever do that. They beat #1 Kansas in the Sweet Sixteen, #1 North Carolina in the Final Four and #1 Kentucky in the National Championship game. Miles Simon was the Final Four MVP and Mike Bibby also makes All Final Four Team. (1)

Former Wildcats currently in the NBA

Coaching staffs in NBA/NCAA

• Steve Kerr, Head Coach, Golden State Warriors

• Josh Pastner, Head Coach, Memphis Tigers

• Damon Stoudamire, Head Coach, Pacific Tigers

• Luke Walton, Head Coach Los Angeles Lakers

• Jason Gardner, Head Coach, IUPUI Jaguars

• Bruce Fraser, Assistant coach, Golden State Warriors

• Bret Brielemaier, Assistant Coach, Brooklyn Nets

Upcoming events:

The 2016-2017 season begins Nov 1 against the College of Idaho.

Experience: 

Once you step into Mckale you will be immediately entranced by the screaming college students, the band and the crazy local Tucson faithful. This is not place one would want to come if they want peace and quiet, as the student section has been known to heckle the opposing team with consistent chants all correlated to making them fail in the most polite possible way. PS, make sure you wear red or white.

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History, localhistory,TucsonHistory, Sports, U OF A, Mckale

http://www.arizonawildcats.com/sports/2013/4/18/208236846.aspx

http://www.arizonawildcats.com/sports/2013/4/18/208236276.aspx

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996%E2%80%9397_Arizona_Wildcats_mens%27s_basketball_team

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