Yep, 5' 10" but tough as nails, Rennie Clemons running in to set the pick on Acie Earl, who was a foot taller, giving Wheeler the room he needed to heave it downcourt.
Loudest Basketball Crowd You've Ever Heard (In Person)
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
St. John Arena in Columbus, where OSU played until the late '90s was the same. Metal roof and the place just rocked and sound reverberated when a game was tight. The Bucks beat Ralph Sampson and Virginia in January 1980. Noon start, national TV. I was 14 so memory is foggy, but I don't believe I've heard a louder college basketball crowd than that day in that arena. Maryland upsetting #5 Wisconsin in the Comcast/Xfinity arena in College Park 2014 was up there, however.
Gotta see an Illini-Purdue game in Mackey before I cash in the chips. And then dinner at The Beef House afterward.
Back in the Weber days I think that Mark Jones (former photographer for the SID, or whatever they're calling it these days) carried one around for the hell of it. Don't think he kept records or anything like that, though.
Pass the rolls, eh?Gotta see an Illini-Purdue game in Mackey before I cash in the chips. And then dinner at The Beef House afterward.
This is the one in my lifetime of attending sporting events - and it's not even close. Part of it is the acoustics in the Allstate Arena make it louder than AH- I mean it only holds 14K and there were fans of 4 others teams there too, but the roar just took over your whole body. It was amazing
Yes. High School gyms.
High School gyms are roundball cathedrals. The place where dreams are born and talents begin to emerge and families and friends and classmates gather in celebration of a shared history and legacy. With a simple game that can be anything but simple at times.
There is an innocent passion that lives in high school gyms. Players begin to learn the game and find out what kind of game and potential they have.
There are the great neighborhood and regional rivalries that add hot spice to the already steaming-hot stew that percolates on the white-hot high school gym floors on cold nights and warm.
Coaches that toil largely in anonymity with their love for the game and their passion to make a difference in the lives of young people. Young people who themselves are just learning about Life itself and how to fit in with a Team and how best to learn from mentors who live to share their knowledge and wisdom for minds eager to learn. A match made in roundball Heaven.
And we in Illinois are blessed with the greatest high school roundball tournament in the Nation. The Original March Madness. The one that the NCAA had to āborrowā from. Where teams from the small prairie towns all the way to the courts in the Big City and the well-endowed City suburbs all face off in a process of building tension and excitement as the Big State Tournament unfolds.
It is pure joy... a ballerās delight. Where dreams and histories are made and preserved in the Grand Mind of Basketball Memory.
And one that lives in the hearts of we who love this Game. And this Place.
'The Gym'. Words that create magic.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
^ I get SO sick of Indiana getting this rep as the mecca of high school basketball. I feel like our state could do a lot better in promoting our just-as-rich history.
National Anthem of NHL All Star Game in 1991 at old Chicago Stadium
And before that there was this...
Game 7 of the 1971 Stanley Cup Finals.
Blackhawks led 2-0 late into the second period. The building is loud and rocking. Walls are shaking. And then...
Montreal scores twice before second period ends. An eerie quiet begins to creep over the now worried fans.
Canadians score two minutes into the third period. And then...
No more goals. And no more cheers.
Somewhere over 21,000 cramped fans in Chicago Stadium are stunned and crushed.
You can still hear the stunned silence echoing along West Madison Street if you listen closely. And perhaps the quietest the āOld Barnā ever was in its long and glorious history. Even when it was empty.
A talented Blackhawks team that was headed for winning the Cup on home ice went home leaving fans with broken hearts and crushed dreams. And yet another Cup was heading up to Montreal who already had so many.
All this happened six years after Simon & Garfunkel first sang āThe Sound of Silenceā. The soundtrack for the end of the 1971 Season.
Hello Darkness, my old friend.
Tacomallini
- Washington State
Loudest Illini game: #7 Illinois beats #4 MSU in Champaign 2000-1 season. Corey Bradford hit six 3's, Brian Cook and Frankie Williams had good games for that fantastic team that tied for 1st in B1G with MSU, got a #1 seed and eventually lost in the Elite Eight in that sh*tshow of a Bill Walton called game for his son and Arizona.
msuspartans.com
Loudest basketball ever: Chicago Bulls player introductions in the old Chicago Stadium. My dad often got tickets through work and I was lucky to see MJ several times. When they were good, the lights out introductions were deafening. It was way darker with the lights out in the Chicago Stadium than the United Center. Probably not quite as loud as Blackhawk national anthems there, but I am lucky enough to "Remember the Roar," all the more sweet thinking of the times I went there with my old man.
Spartans Stopped By Seventh-Ranked Illini, 77-66 - Michigan State University Athletics
Feb. 6, 2001Box Score By JOHN KELLYAssociated Press WriterCHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) - Cory Bradford got tired of being kicked around by Michigan State. On Tuesday night,
msuspartans.com
Loudest basketball ever: Chicago Bulls player introductions in the old Chicago Stadium. My dad often got tickets through work and I was lucky to see MJ several times. When they were good, the lights out introductions were deafening. It was way darker with the lights out in the Chicago Stadium than the United Center. Probably not quite as loud as Blackhawk national anthems there, but I am lucky enough to "Remember the Roar," all the more sweet thinking of the times I went there with my old man.
Tacomallini
- Washington State
Canāt remember if it was the 91 or 92 championship, but my brother, then mulleted and 19 at the time, made the front page of the Aurora Beacon News celebrating at a local pub, beer in hand. My dad, RIP, was not too pleased at the time, but held onto the paper and had it framed for Christmas.
I've been to 100's of games and the loudest I ever experienced was last year when we played at Purdue. Thought my ears were gonna bleed.
I was at the Wake Forest game. The noise level seemed constant and loud especially during the first half as the Illini lead kept growing! I think Wake was ranked #1 at the time, but got completely owned by the Illini!
RockyMtnIllini81
- Golden, Colorado
This is going WAAAY back. It's March 1980. The Illini, have not been to the post-season in a while. Lou Henson is building something. The Illini are in the NIT in Assembly Hall against Loyola. Fans camped out to get tickets. Late in the game, the Illini are in control. The crowd is having a great time, but really exploded when Levi Cobb came into the game and hit a shot to reach 100 points. Final score 105-87.
I remember when we beat M. State and Magic. It was hard to compare that to Wake but it was close. It may never be that loud again. When they remodeled the place, attendance declined by 1000 or so. I was at a game back when we played Indiana when they had Quinn Buckner, Kent Benson, Scott May etc. I think they were ranked number 1. Man was it loud. They beat us but man that place was pumped! Indiana was really good. Glad I got to see that.
Sitting next to the Evanston Screamer
I grew up in south suburban Chicago. My dad grew up in east Chicago, Indiana, won a state championship in high school, and coached in āda regionā when I was in high school. Before I moved to Texas I coached a year at champaign central.
Iāve been around basketball in both states a lot. Iāve been gone for a while, but this is my philosophy based upon when I left.
In terms of pure talent, the winner is Illinois in my opinion. I think there are more and better players, and I think the general talent level of teams is higher in Illinois. We tend to have more high end home grown prospects, but weāre also a larger state. The elite dudes can kinda pop up anywhere tho.
In terms of high school game environment, I have never seen a place like Indiana. When you get 4 teams in one location for those Friday night sectional semifinal games, it is pure magic. It is literally what I think about when I tell people about it. If I could take one job anywhere in the country, I would take East Chicago Central. 8000 seat gym (named after my dads coach), infectious energy, hosts sectionals and sometimes regionals. And generally talented players. I have felt the electricity upon walking into that gym more times than I can count in my life.
Now I will say, the champaign central v champaign centennial environment AT CENTRAL ONLY, matched EC in my one year there. But Iāve just seen so much more out of Indiana that I give them the edge.
Usually I tell people in Texas, if youāre ever up there, and you wanna see a ridiculously good high school game, find a game with the top teams in the Chicago area. If you wanna be wrapped up in the atmosphere and pageantry of high school basketball, find a big game in Indiana.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
^ I also feel like Illinois high school basketball has declined, especially with more classes. We lived in Peoria during the Frank Williams and Co. years, and my dad said the Manual/Central games filled up Bradleyās arena and were so electric.
Iām am Illini guy, but Bradley vs. Minnesota in the old Robertson Memorial Fieldhouse in Peoira circa 1974-5 was incredible. The Raised floor put bottom 20 rows on the bleacher side and 30 on the chair seat side at or below the players heads. During timeouts you could hear individual voices from across the gym. Noise was incredible. It took a couple of hours ringing for hearing to restore. Probably why I hear at 50-60% today.
And manual central shootouts in that same building. Theyād get 7-8,000 screaming high school kids in that building for a sectional final. Frankie Williams, Chris Reynolds, Sergio, AJ Guyton, ā¦
MustangWally
- Mayfield
I was going to nominate this one, too. Vs. Portland, right? Chicago Stadium was the best.
MustangWally
- Mayfield
In Honor of March Madness, These Are the 25 Most Impressive NCAA Arenas
You have to see some of the mind-blowing architecture for yourself.
www.popularmechanics.com
State Farm Center not on the list, so not very credible.
Captain 14
- The Last Best Place
Maybe just an honorable mention at least... as it hosted 20 years of the original March Madness IHSA tournaments before the term was ever uttered in connection with the NCAA.In Honor of March Madness, These Are the 25 Most Impressive NCAA Arenas
You have to see some of the mind-blowing architecture for yourself.
State Farm Center not on the list, so not very credible.
His free throws did so much damage to the rims, they had to be replaced when he graduated.