Facilities
The Wichita State University Shockers have played their home games at Charles Koch Arena, a 10,506 seat on-campus arena, since 1953. Originally known as the University of Wichita Field House, it was officially renamed Levitt Arena in 1969 for Henry Levitt, owner of Henry's, who sponsored a Wichita basketball team that won three consecutive national Amateur Athletic Union titles in the 1930s. Due to its circular design, which gave nearly every fan a clear sight line and put the seats very close to the action, it was quickly nicknamed "The Roundhouse." Following a $6 million endowment from Charles G. Koch the arena underwent a $25 million renovation in 2002-03, popularly known as the "Roundhouse Renaissance." The old arena concourse was completely demolished and a new one built around the original playing/seating area. A portion of the seating bowl was remodeled to make for more legroom. All new seating was installed as well as a video scoreboard, and virtually every surface that was not renovated was given a fresh coat of paint. The Shocker basketball teams played at the Kansas Coliseum for the 2002-03 season while the arena was rebuilt. In 2012, the Wichita State Shockers basketball team averaged 10,391 fans per game, ranking 38th nationally. In January 2013, ESPN's Jason King listed Koch Arena as the 7th best home court advantage in college basketball.
In addition to Koch Arena, the Shockers have played one game for each of the last three seasons across town at the Intrust Bank Arena, the second largest indoor arena in the state of Kansas at 15,004 seats. Wichita State is 3-0 when playing at Intrust, including an 82-79 win over Tulsa in 2010, a 68-46 win over UAB in 2011, and a 59-51 win over Southern Miss in 2012.
Read more about this topic: Wichita State Shockers Men's Basketball
Famous quotes containing the word facilities:
“Marriage is good enough for the lower classes: they have facilities for desertion that are denied to us.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“I have always found that when men have exhausted their own resources, they fall back on “the intentions of the Creator.” But their platitudes have ceased to have any influence with those women who believe they have the same facilities for communication with the Divine mind as men have.”
—Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902)