- Don Haskins Center
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Don Haskins Center "The Don" 
Former names The Special Events Center Location 500 West University Avenue
El Paso, Texas 79968Opened 1976 Owner University of Texas at El Paso Operator University of Texas at El Paso Surface hardwood Capacity 12,222 Tenants UTEP Athletics The Don Haskins Center is the home of UTEP Miners men's and women's basketball. The 'Don', as it is known by local residents, is located in the heart of El Paso, Texas. In addition to hosting sporting events, the Don is also used by many area schools, such as El Paso Community College, for graduation and commencement ceremonies.[1] Due to its large seating capacity, the center is also the city's premier entertainment venue and has hosted big name acts such as pop star Britney Spears during her Circus Tour,[2] comedian George Lopez and rock band KISS.[3]
Built in 1976, as the Special Events Center, the venue replaced Memorial Gym. The Special Events Center was renamed after UTEP's Hall of Fame coach Don Haskins (1930-2008) in 1998. Haskins, who is best known for starting five African-American players in the 1966 NCAA Championship game against Kentucky,[4] was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 1997 and retired from the university in 1999. The arena was the site of a milestone win during the 1997–8 season, as coach Haskins notched his 700th career victory against SMU.[5] The arena was also the site of the 1984, 1985, and 1990 Western Athletic Conference men's basketball tournaments and the 2011 Conference USA tournament. In September 2008 the building's namesake, Don Haskins, lay in state there for several days after passing away of natural causes. [6]
The Haskins Center features a Robbins Bio-Channel Star maple floor, installed in the summer of 2002, as well as two modern locker rooms, training facilities and basketball coaches' offices. The game-day environment for basketball was enhanced in recent years with the addition of four new scoreboards and two video replay boards to the arena. The arena now has a total of seven electronic scoreboards.
Depeche Mode were scheduled to perform during their Touring the Angel Tour on May 2, 2006, with She Wants Revenge as their opening act, but the show was cancelled, due to scheduling issues.
New Kids on the Block were scheduled to perform during their Full Service Reunion Tour on July 13, 2009, but the show was cancelled.
The Miner men's basketball team has posted a 394-115 (.774) record in 30 years at the arena including a 364-94 (.795) record over the last 25 seasons.
UTEP won 25 straight home games from January 23, 1987 to Dec. 16, 1989. The Miners have posted undefeated home records in three seasons: 1983-84 (21–0), 1985-86 (19-0) and 1988-89 (18-0). They also won the first 10 conference games they played there after joining Conference USA in 2005. UTEP has defeated many top-10 ranked teams in the Don Haskins Center over the years, including #10 Arizona (1977), #5 Georgetown (1985), #5 Wyoming (1988) and #9 Utah (1993), among others.
UTEP has attracted 4,686,630 fans in 30 seasons at the arena, an average of 9,208 per game during that span. The 12,000-seat arena has been sold out for UTEP basketball games 106 times.
Fans enter the Don Haskins Center early before a UTEP Men's basketball game.
Don Haskins Center north entranceReferences
- ^ "Venues at UTEP". http://www.utep.edu/venues/don_haskins.html. Retrieved March, 10, 2010.
- ^ Swann, Ben (10 June 2009). "Britney Spears Coming To Don Haskins' Center". El Paso: KTSM-TV. http://www.ktsm.com/news/britney-spears-coming-to-don-haskins-center. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
- ^ Soto, Stephanie (January 5, 2010). "Legendary rockers invade the Sun City". http://www.utepprospector.com/entertainment/legendary-rockers-invade-the-sun-city-1.1006514. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "The Don Haskins Center". CSTV. http://utepathletics.cstv.com/facilities/haskins-center-mbb.html. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
- ^ Sanchez, Stephanie (September 9, 2008). "El Pasoans visit Don Haskins Center as coach lies in state". http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_10414836. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
External links
Coordinates: 31°46′39″N 106°30′21″W / 31.777608°N 106.505718°W
Basketball arenas of Conference USA Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum (East Carolina) • Hofheinz Pavilion (Houston) • Cam Henderson Center (Marshall) • FedExForum (Memphis) • Moody Coliseum (SMU) • Tudor Fieldhouse (Rice) • Reed Green Coliseum (Southern Miss) • Avron B. Fogelman Arena (Tulane) • Reynolds Center (Tulsa) • Bartow Arena (UAB) • UCF Arena (UCF) • Don Haskins Center (UTEP)
Categories:- College basketball venues in the United States
- UTEP Miners basketball venues
- Basketball venues in Texas
- Sports venues in El Paso, Texas
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