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Assembly Hall is a 17,456-seat arena on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the home of the Indiana Hoosiers basketball teams. It opened in 1972, replacing the current Gladstein Fieldhouse. The court is named after Branch McCracken, the men's basketball coach who led the school to its first two NCAA National Championships in 1940 and 1953. Indiana installed a new state-of-the-art playing surface during the summer of 1995. The floor is the latest in court science, which includes added shock absorbers. The new floor also is permanent and covers the entire floor area. New bleacher seats were added, as well, along with a media row and end seating platforms on Lobby Level to give Assembly Hall a "new look".
Sportscaster Dick Vitale called for Assembly Hall to be renamed in honor of former coach Bobby Knight in a column for ESPN in 2003. This was unlikely to take place, because the controversial Knight was fired by the university in 2000.
In 2005 the school completed construction of a state-of-the-art, $1.9 million scoreboard-video board. It is expected to pull in yearly advertising revenue without costing the athletics department any out-of-pocket expenses. Some Hoosier purists feared the advertisements, which had never before been in Assembly Hall, would ruin the aura and aesthetics.
The building has hosted the NCAA basketball tournament three times, with sub-regional games in 1977 and 1979, and the Midwest regional finals in 1981.
Team History:
The basketball teams currently play on the Branch McCracken Court in Assembly Hall (Bloomington) in Bloomington, Indiana.
The tradition of college basketball excellence that reigns at Indiana University can only be matched by a handful of other elite programs, while the fierce devotion of IU basketball fans has been selling out arenas and inspiring generation after generation of Hoosier fans for over a century. The Hoosiers have been ranked in the top 10 nationally in attendance 30 seasons since 1972.
As of 2006, the school has won five championships in men's basketball (1940, 1953, 1976, 1981 and 1987), the first two under coach Branch McCracken and three under Bob Knight. The Hoosiers' five NCAA Championships are the third-most in history, trailing only UCLA(11), and Kentucky(7). Their eight trips to the Final Four ranks seventh on the all-time list. The Hoosiers have made the trip to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament 32 times, fifth in NCAA history. In those 32 appearances, Indiana has posted 52 victories, the sixth-most in NCAA history.
Season Preview:
Former Indiana basketball player and coach Dan Dakich will return to his alma mater this fall as the director of basketball operations. Dakich replaces Jerry Green, who retired earlier this spring, on coach Kelvin Sampson's staff.
"My family and I are thrilled to be back at Indiana University," Dakich said in a statement released by the athletic department. "It has been an extremely important place in our lives. I thank coach Sampson for giving me this tremendous opportunity."
Dakich played at Indiana from 1982-85, winning two Big Ten titles, playing in three NCAA tournaments. He was twice named team captain. The Hoosiers were NIT runner-ups his senior year, but Dakich is best remembered for defending Michael Jordan in the 1984 NCAA regionals when the Hoosiers upset North Carolina.
In 1985, Dakich joined coach Bob Knight's staff as a graduate assistant. After the 1987 national championship run, Dakich was promoted to full-time assistant.
Dakich left Indiana in 1997 to take the head coaching job at Bowling Green, where he spent the last 10 seasons and won 156 games -- the third most in school history. He's one of three Falcons coaches to post four 18-win seasons. Bowling Green won the 2000 Mid-American Conference regular-season title but wound up in the NIT, and reached the MAC Tournament championship game in 2002.
Official Site:
http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/