Dean Smith Center
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dean Smith Center | |
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| The Dean Dome | |
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| Full name | Dean E. Smith Student Activities Center |
| Location | 300 Skipper Bowles Dr, Chapel Hill, NC 27514 |
| Opened | January 18, 1986 |
| Expanded | 1992, 2000 |
| Owner | The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
| Operator | The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
| Construction cost | $33.8 million |
| Architect | Corley Redfoot Zack, Inc. |
| Tenants | North Carolina Tar Heels (NCAA) 1986- |
| Capacity | 21,750 |
The Dean E. Smith Student Activities Center, usually called simply the Dean Smith Center and popularly referred to as the Dean Dome is a multi-purpose arena in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The arena is home to the University of North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team, and temporary home to the women's team during renovations to Carmichael Auditorium. The arena opened in 1986.
The arena is named after former UNC coach Dean Smith, who coached at UNC from 1961 to 1997. According to David Halberstam's biography of Michael Jordan, Smith did not want the arena named after him, but was persuaded by the UNC administration and the arena's backers that fundraising efforts for the facility could fail if they did not use his name.[1]
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[edit] General information
The arena originally seated 21,444. Seating adjustments brought capacity to 21,572 in 1992 and 21,750 in 2000. It is now the fifth largest arena in college basketball, and the fourth-largest designed specifically for basketball.
Until the construction of the second Charlotte Coliseum in 1988, it was the largest basketball-specific arena on the East Coast. The largest crowd to see a game in the Dean Dome was on March 6, 2005, when 22,125 fans saw the Tar Heels win 75-73 against Duke.[2]
The arena was built to allow more fans to attend Tar Heel basketball games than could fit in the 21-year-old, 10,000-seat Carmichael Auditorium. The Tar Heels have been among the nation's attendance leaders ever since the arena opened.[3]
The arena is somewhat spread out, making the seats seem far from the floor. However, the sight lines throughout most of the arena are very good, as they are almost the same as those of Carmichael. The only obstructed seats are in the upper rows of the lower level, where the view is partially cut off by the upper level's overhang.
[edit] Seating issues
The arena's seating arrangement has been somewhat controversial. Most of the lower-level seats were allocated to members of UNC's athletic booster foundation, the Educational Foundation (better known as the Rams Club). Furthermore, most of those seats are season tickets. While tickets are usually available for most non-conference games, all Atlantic Coast Conference games are sold out, and scalping is virtually the only way to get in.
In its early years, the arena was known as among the quieter ones in the country because many seats that would have been occupied by students at other schools were occupied by considerably older alumni who were not as inclined to cheer anywhere near as vocally. This led Florida State player Sam Cassell to say that the Dean Dome “is not a Duke kind of crowd. It’s more like a cheese-and-wine crowd, kind of laid back."[4] In contrast, the student section at Carmichael ringed the court, making it one of the loudest arenas in the country.
Since 1992, however, expanded student seating and a younger alumni base has made the Smith Center louder. For example, after the then top-ranked Connecticut Huskies were defeated by Carolina at the Dean Dome in 2004, Huskies coach Jim Calhoun said, "I don't know what they are talking about because there was no 'wine and cheese' crowd here today."
The arena is usually at its loudest for games against Duke. However, during a regular-season game against Maryland in 2000, more students were allowed into the lower level. The game had been postponed two days due to a heavy snowstorm. Students were also allowed to take most of the lower level seats during the Tar Heels' National Invitation Tournament appearance in 2003.
[edit] Home court advantage
The Tar Heels have one of the most formidable home-court advantages in the country, rarely losing more than three home games in a season. As of the end of the 2005-06 season, UNC was 220-47 (.824) at the Smith Center — an average of 11.0 wins against 2.4 losses each season over 21 years. They have gone undefeated at home three times since the arena opened (1986-87, 1992-93 and 2004-05).
Clemson is the only ACC school that has never won at the Smith Center. In fact, Clemson has never won in Chapel Hill in 53 tries, dating well before the formation of the ACC in 1953.
[edit] Non-basketball uses
The arena has also held many concerts and is used by many of the graduate and professional schools, such as the UNC School of Law, for commencement ceremonies each year, as well as the same for all undergraduates receiving degrees in December of each year. There is some controversy surrounding the continued support of the Dean Dome by the state government. Concerts (including 2 by The Grateful Dead in March 1993) and other events, as well as advertising arrangements such as a signage deal with Wachovia Bank also fund the stadium.[5]
[edit] External links
[edit] Notes
- ^ Halberstam, David (1999). Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World He Made. New York: Random House, p. 77. ISBN 0679415629.
- ^ NCAA Basketball - Duke Blue Devils/North Carolina Tar Heels Recap Sunday March 6, 2005 - Yahoo! Sports.
- ^ www.ncaa.org/stats/m_basketball/attendance/top25.pdf (PDF).
- ^ North Carolina Collection-Carolina Quotables - Sam Cassell.
- ^ Independent Weekly: Columns: Editorial: Ad nauseum.
| Preceded by Carmichael Auditorium |
Home of North Carolina Tar Heels Men's Basketball 1986 – present |
Succeeded by Current |
| Preceded by Carmichael Auditorium |
Home of North Carolina Tar Heels Women's Basketball 2008 – 2009 |
Succeeded by Carmichael Auditorium |
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