Gallagher-Iba Arena, once called “Madison Square Garden of the Plains,” is the basketball and wrestling venue at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Gallagher-Iba Arena was completed in 1938 with a price tag of $1.5 million to hold 4-H meetings.
The storied history of the arena began on December 9, 1938 when the Aggies (the school’s nickname at the time) coached by Henry Iba beat Phog Allen’s Kansas Jayhawks 21-15. Gallagher-Iba Arena is also known as the “rowdiest arena in the country” because of the deafening crowds. It is also home to one of the first student sections. During the Big 8 wrestling championships in 1978, a standing-room-only crowd of 8,300 made such a huge roar that a lot of the lights in the arena burst.
Gallagher-Iba Arena was originally named the 4-H Clubs and Student Activities Building. It was shortly renamed Gallagher Hall for wrestling coach Ed Gallagher, who won 11 national championships during his tenure from 1916 to 1940. The Oklahoma Board of Regents renamed Gallagher Hall to Gallagher-Iba Arena in 1987 to honor legendary Oklahoma State basketball coach Henry Iba. Iba won 767 collegiate games and two national championships in his career. Iba invented the motion offense and man-to-man defense.
In the 1990s, Oklahoma State was in desperate need of a larger basketball arena. Instead of building a new arena off campus, they decided to expand Gallagher-Iba Arena from 6,381 seats to 13,611 seats. They built around the old arena during the basketball season to allow games to be played. Once the exterior was almost done, the roof of the old arena was taken apart. The old sightlines and the original maple floor were kept. The expansion, completed in time for the 2000 basketball season, cost $55 million and was designed by Gary Sparks and built by Manhattan Construction.
Gallagher-Iba Arena was recently named the best college gymnasium by CBS Sportsline [1].
On January 15, 2005, the court was officially named after Eddie Sutton as the Eddie Sutton Court.
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Last updated: 08-23-2005 14:27:12
