Lloyd Noble Center

Lloyd Noble Center
	The Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team warms up before a game against the Texas Longhorns
Location	2900 Jenkins Avenue; Norman, Oklahoma, 73072
Coordinates	35°11′15″N 97°26′40″W / 35.18750°N 97.44444°W
Owner	University of Oklahoma
Operator	University of Oklahoma
Capacity	10,967 (2020-Present); 11,562 (2013–2019); 12,000 (2001–2013); 11,100 (1994–2001); 10,871 (1975–1994)
Surface	Multi-surface
Construction
Broke ground	1973
Opened	October 27, 1975
Renovated	2001
Construction cost	$6 million; ($34 million in 2023 dollars); $17.1 million (renovation)
Architect	Sorey, Hill & Sorey; Ellerbe Becket (renovations)
Tenants
	Oklahoma Sooners (NCAA DI) (1975–present)

The Lloyd Noble Center is a 10,967-seat multi-purpose arena located in Norman, Oklahoma, some 19 mi (31 km) south of downtown Oklahoma City. It opened in 1975 and is home to the University of Oklahoma men's and women's basketball teams of the Southeastern Conference.

History

Before the construction of the facility, the teams played in the much smaller OU Field House, located on campus near Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. With the success of Sooner basketball in the 1970s and star forward Alvan Adams, demand became sufficient to upgrade to the modern and spacious Lloyd Noble Center, named after an alumnus and former member of the OU Board of Regents who gave OU's first ever $1 million gift to finance the center. The Sooners frequently sold out the arena during the Billy Tubbs era, with All-American forward Wayman Tisdale leading the high-scoring team to several Big Eight Conference titles and NCAA Tournament appearances. This led to the popular colloquialism around Norman that Lloyd Noble Center is "the house that Alvan built and Wayman filled."

In January 2006, the NBA and the New Orleans Hornets decided to move two games from the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge to Oklahoma City due to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent low attendance it caused. The Ford Center in Oklahoma City was unavailable for one of the games against the Sacramento Kings, so it was moved to the Lloyd Noble Center.

The center was named after Samuel Lloyd Noble (1896–1950), a Houston oilman and philanthropist, and founder of the Noble Corporation and the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation.

Concerts

As a concert venue, the Lloyd Noble Center can hold between 2,848 and 4,516 in a theater set-up, 6,165 for end-stage concerts, and 11,238 for center-stage concerts. The arena contains 18,000 sq ft (1,700 m²) of arena floor space as well as 22,534 sq ft (2,093.5 m²) of concourse space, allowing for trade shows to be held at the arena. The arena stands only 51 ft (16 m) tall since the majority of the structure is under ground (including the entire lower arena level), and contains a 40 by 60 ft (12 by 18 m) portable stage and a state-of-the-art scoreboard and video system. There are 12 concession stands at the concourse.

Elvis Presley performed two back-to-back concerts at the center on March 25 & 26 1977.^{[citation needed]} He died five months after the concerts on August 16, 1977.

The Grateful Dead performed here on October 11, 1977.

Amy Grant recorded half of her live albums, In Concert and In Concert Volume Two, here.

Journey performed 3 concerts here for their Frontiers tour on July 19, 20, 21, 1983, also 1 concert on 12/1/98.

References

^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^ Upchurch, Jay C. (2003). "The House That Basketball Built". Sooner Magazine. Archived from the original on January 7, 2004. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
^ Chronicles of Oklahoma. Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Historical Society. 1993. p. 366.

External links

[inflation-US-1] 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.

[2] Upchurch, Jay C. (2003). "The House That Basketball Built". Sooner Magazine. Archived from the original on January 7, 2004. Retrieved November 10, 2013.

[3] Chronicles of Oklahoma. Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Historical Society. 1993. p. 366.

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v t e Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball
Venues	Oklahoma Gymnasium (1907–1919) University of Oklahoma R.O.T.C. Armory (1919–1928) McCasland Field House (1928–1975) Lloyd Noble Center (1975–present)
Rivalries	Oklahoma State
Culture & lore	Boomer and Sooner RUF/NEKS Jumpman Invitational
People	Head coaches NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

v t e NCAA Division I college basketball venues in Oklahoma
The American	Reynolds Center (Tulsa)
Big 12	Gallagher-Iba Arena (Oklahoma State)
SEC	Lloyd Noble Center (Oklahoma)
Summit	Mabee Center (Oral Roberts)

v t e New Orleans Pelicans
Founded in 2002 Formerly the New Orleans Hornets (2002–2005, 2007–2013) and the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets (2005–2007) Based in New Orleans, Louisiana
Franchise	History All-time roster Draft history Records Head coaches Seasons Current season
Arenas	Smoothie King Center Ford Center
Personnel	Owner(s) Gayle Benson President Dennis Lauscha Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin General manager vacant Head coach Willie Green
G League affiliate	Birmingham Squadron
Retired numbers	7
Culture and lore	Broadcasters Temporary move to Oklahoma City George Shinn Hugo The Brow

History

Concerts

See also

References

External links