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B Y R I C K V A C E K
Expanded
GCU Arena is
ready to rock
C
ATHEY MOSES’ DAY PLANNER for newly expanded
Grand Canyon University Arena already lists events in
2018. In other words, while incoming freshmen are still
trying to figure out which building is which, she already
is mapping out the Arena schedule for their senior year.
Of course, that’s what GCU’s vice president of event planning and
marketing does for a living. For her, it’s all Arena, all the time. For
most students, it likely will be all Arena at least some of the time. And
just in time for the 2014-15 school year, the biggest meeting place on
campus is bigger and better than ever.
In a project that began in early March, a five-row upper deck was
installed to increase the Arena’s capacity from nearly 5,000 to about
7,000. The first major all-University event scheduled for the “new”
Arena is the Switchfoot concert on Saturday, Aug. 23.
What would Moses tell newcomers about the Arena?
“The fact that they have access to a building like this – all the
basketball, all the other sporting events, all the Chapel services, all
the concerts,” she said. “Not every university has a building like this
and one’s that so accessible like this.”
The centerpiece is Antelopes basketball, GCU’s No. 1 sport. The
men’s team will have 21 home games this season in the second year of its
transition from NCAA Division II to D-I. The women’s team faces a Dec.
18 game against national power University of Louisville among the 15 on
its home schedule.
What would Dan Majerle, the former Phoenix Suns star who coaches
the GCU men’s team, tell newbies to expect?
“To expect what you never expected,” he said. “I’ve been all over the
country and have played in a lot of different arenas, obviously, and I was
blown away by the noise in the Arena and the enthusiasm of the students.
And it’s not just the basketball – it’s the entertainment, the pep band, the
whole atmosphere.
“You won’t find anything quite like it. If you want to experience college
basketball at its finest, you don’t have to go anywhere else but right here.”
Moses said there were 288 events in the Arena in 2013, so don’t be
surprised when it’s a busy place again during this school year … and for
years to come.
