Buy Miami Hurricanes Tickets Now!
Stadium: BankUnited Center
The arena opened in 2002 as the University of Miami Convocation Center, and is home to the Miami Hurricanes basketball team. Events held in the BankUnited Center include concerts, shows, speeches, high school graduations, and both men's and women's basketball games. It is the largest arena ever built on campus.
Prior to the opening of the BankUnited Center, the school played its games at the Miami Arena since its opening in 1988.
Team History:
UM's men's basketball team has produced three players who are currently on NBA rosters. Rick Barry, who played his collegiate basketball at UM, is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame. Barry is the Hurricanes only consensus All-American in basketball and led the nation in scoring his senior year with a 37.4 average during the 1964–65 campaign.
The university actually temporarily dropped the program after the 1972 season, with the Board of Trustees citing inadequate facilities, sagging attendance, and serious financial losses as the reasons for the decision. The program was revived before the 1985–86 season, though UM would be minimally competitive over the next several years. The program's fortunes turned around in 1990 when Miami hired Leonard Hamilton as head basketball coach and accepted an invitation to join the Big East. By the end of the decade, Hamilton had turned UM into one of the better basketball programs in the Big East and had guided UM to three straight NCAA tournament appearances (1998–2000), including a #2 seed in the 1999 tournament and a Sweet 16 appearance in 2000. The 1998 tournament appearance was UM's first since 1960.
Season Preview:
University of Miami athletic director Paul Dee plans to resign in June 2008 and join the faculty.
"I have always wanted to teach," Dee said Wednesday. "This way, I can transition to the faculty and teach at the university for a few years before I retire."
Under Dee, the Hurricanes won a national championship in football in 2001, and baseball titles in 1999 and 2001. He oversaw the firing in November of football coach Larry Coker, who went 60-15 with a national title in six seasons with the Hurricanes, and the hiring of new coach Randy Shannon.
"We have had many challenges," said Dee, who became athletic director in 1993. "But we've had a lot more ups than downs. I've had a wonderful experience."
During Dee's tenure, the Miami program moved from the Big East Conference to the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Hurricanes added scholarship programs in three women's sports -- soccer, volleyball and rowing -- and have had strong programs in men's and women's tennis and women's track.
Official Site:
hurricanesports.cstv.com