Jan Gangelhoff - Facilities

Facilities

When the Gophers first organized, they played games in the on campus YMCA. In 1896, the team moved into the campus Armory, a large building with gymnasium space for the team to use, even if basketball was not its primary purpose. They remained in the Armory for almost thirty years. Halfway through the 1924–25 season, coach Harold Taylor moved the team from the University Armory to the Kenwood Armory in downtown Minneapolis. This significantly increased the attendance; capacity at the University Armory was 2,000, and it was 6,500 at Kenwood. The team only played at Kenwood for a few seasons, however, as the University of Minnesota Field House — later known as Williams Arena — opened partway through the 1927–1928 season. The team moved in on January 31, 1928.

The Field House increased attendance capacity further, to 9,500. It was named after Henry L. Williams, the former Minnesota Golden Gophers football coach in 1950, and was named after him when it was remodeled and expanded in 1950, bringing the arena to a capacity of 18,025, which was the largest in the country for twenty years and significantly larger than the capacity of Williams Arena today. Gophers fans refer to Williams Arena as the Barn. Consequently, the student section is known as The Barnyard. Williams Arena was remodeled in 1993 again, to create a new facility for the women's team to use. The team continues to play there to this day, making it one of the longest used arenas of any college basketball team and the oldest arena in the Big 10. Williams Arena is also one of the few remaining arenas with a raised court, in which players have to go up stairs to reach the playing surface.