Poll of 100 coaches ranks KU Jayhawks’ Allen Fieldhouse as best basketball atmosphere

Allen Fieldhouse has the “best environment in college hoops” of any and all venues according to a poll of 100 college coaches conducted by CBSsports.com.

KU’s tradition-rich building, which opened on March 1, 1955, was named on 67.3% of all ballots of coaches asked to submit their top three choices.

Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium placed second after being named on 50.5% of the ballots. Gonzaga’s McCarthey Athletic Center, was named on 27.4% of the ballots.

Purdue’s Mackey Arena and Arizona’s McKale Center tied for fourth (15.8% of all ballots) followed by a tie between Kentucky’s Rupp Arena and Indiana’s Assembly Hall (10.5%).

Wichita State’s Koch Arena and Michigan State’s Breslin Center placed in a tie for eighth (8.4% of ballots). Auburn’s Neville Arena and Texas Tech’s United Supermarkets Arena received 7.4% of the ballots to tie for 10th.

“Everybody wants to be entertained. It takes less to be entertained in Allen. Two good plays in a row, the place is going nuts,” said KU coach Bill Self, asked to comment on the fieldhouse atmosphere last season.

“Some other places two good plays you have a little momentum. Here it just takes a couple sparks,” Self added of the crowd letting out roars that Self noted help “make the walls sweat.”

Self credited folks such as Warren Corman, the last living architect who was part of a six-person team of architects and two engineers to build Allen, for designing a building that has stood the test of time.

“Dr. (Phog) Allen had a vision as well. How do you build a building and look at it as, ‘Where will it be 100 years from now?’ It will be as special as when it was built,” Self said. “The seats are the least comfortable in America. Not one person who sits in them wants it any other way. It has a fieldhouse feel with all the modern amenities,” he added of spacious locker rooms and weight rooms for the men’s and women’s players as well as film rooms and whirlpools and ice baths.

Here are some quotes about the fieldhouse compiled by CBS writers Matt Norlander and Gary Parrish from coaches who were promised anonymity when revealing their choices for buildings that provide the best environment in college basketball.

“”I know a lot of mid-major head coaches who have nightmares about that place.”

“We played there, kept it a game, were in the game and then it turned at halftime and the crowd took over more than Kansas did. They had a significant impact on the outcome of that game and I was like, ‘Holy (bleep), this is all messed up.’ We rolled up to the gym and we get there an hour and a half early and it’s cold, freezing, snow on the ground. And they’re all out there, a mile-long line to get into the arena. And we’re like, ‘Oh, (bleep).’’’

“Allen Fieldhouse is a treasure. You walk by the Hall of Fame, you walk through the fans on your way from the locker room to the floor, and then there’s just something about when you step on that floor and think of the history of the game. And then at some point the ‘Rock Chalk’ chant echoes through the arena. You know this is what basketball is supposed to be.”

Of Allen Fieldhouse, NBA Hall of Famer Paul Pierce said on one of his past trips back to Lawrence where he played from 1996 to 98: “It’s a special feeling when you come into Allen Fieldhouse.. It’s a players’ gym. Once you walk into the Fieldhouse the adrenaline starts going … the atmosphere, this is a loud place to play and if you’re the opposite team then you are in trouble. I’m glad I went here and didn’t have to play as an opponent here.”

Pierce was sold on KU after attending a game his senior year at Inglewood High in California.

“Growing up in L.A. I went to UCLA games. When I stepped in the building (fieldhouse) and saw a Kansas game it was like nothing I’d seen. I just knew I had to go there. The crowd … you see it on TV. When you are there … I knew it’s something I had to play in,” Pierce said.

Pierce, by the way, was 44-0 as a Jayhawk in games played in Allen.