It has served as the mecca of college basketball in Tucson for decades. It has hosted a plethora of memorable games, graduations, concerts, memorial services and speeches .
Now it’s celebrating a birthday.
Wednesday marks the 50-year anniversary of McKale Center officially opening its doors as the Arizona Wildcats’ premiere athletic facility to host men’s and women’s basketball games, along with volleyball and gymnastics events.
Named after J.F. “Pop” McKale, a longtime UA athletic director and head coach — essentially a founding father of Arizona athletics — McKale Center has delivered myriad memorable moments since it opened on Feb. 1, 1973.
Here’s a look at 50 of them, starting with Nos. 50-41:
50. Lloyd gets win No. 50
Date: Jan. 21, 2023
What happened: No. 11 Arizona grinded out a victory over No. 5 UCLA 58-52, the first time the Wildcats scored under 60 points in a win under Tommy Lloyd, who reached 50 career wins faster than any head coach in Pac-12 history. Due to UCLA’s soon-to-be Big Ten membership, Arizona’s win over the Bruins could be the last time in a while they play at McKale Center.
49. Fredette drops 49 points in Fiesta Bowl Classic
Date: Dec. 28, 2009
What happened: BYU guard Jimmer Fredette lit up Arizona for 49 points — a program and McKale Center record — to beat the Wildcats 99-69. Fredette was 9 of 13 from 3-point range and dished out nine assists in the Cougars’ rout.
Stanford center Stefan Nastic (4), left, fouls Arizona guard Gabe York during the first half of the No. 5 Arizona vs. Stanford men's college basketball game on March 7, 2015, at McKale Center. York broke a record for 3-pointers.
48. York ties program record on Senior Day
Date: March 5, 2016
What happened: Arizona senior guard Gabe York tied a program record with nine 3-pointers against Stanford on Senior Day, two days after he made a trio of 3s down the stretch to lift the Wildcats over Cal in come-from-behind fashion.
47. ‘Ooh Ahh Man’ retires after 34 years
Date: March 9, 2013
What happened: Joe Cavaleri, a longtime Arizona basketball fan also known as the “Ooh Ahh Man,” performed one final time during Arizona’s home finale against Arizona State. Cavaleri served as the Wildcats’ rally-caller at McKale Center from 1979-2013.
46. Wildcats lose to Bucknell in NIT
Date: March 14, 2012
What happened: The year after going to the Elite Eight in Sean Miller’s second season at Arizona, the Wildcats lost to Bucknell in the first round of the NIT, despite a double-double from Solomon Hill. Arizona’s starting lineup: Jordin Mayes, Nick Johnson, Kyle Fogg, Hill and undersized center Jesse Perry.
Arizona volleyball head coach Dave Rubio gives a pre-game talk before his team plays Pac-10 rival UCLA at McKale Center on Oct. 12, 2000.
45. UA volleyball beats ASU to win Pac-10
Date: Nov. 18, 2000
What happened: Arizona ended Pac-10 play with a 3-1 win over ASU, finishing the conference schedule with a 16-2 record and a share of the Pac-10 title with USC. The Wildcats and Trojans became the first Pac-10 schools not named UCLA or Stanford to win at least a share of the conference championship. It remains the only volleyball conference championship in program history.
44. Dusan loves Tucson
Date: March 3, 2018
What happened: Arizona’s tumultuous season, filled with federal investigations, injuries and suspensions — oh, don’t forget about Deandre Ayton’s historic freshman campaign — ended with a win over Cal to secure the Pac-12 regular-season championship. Arizona honored seniors Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Dusan Ristic, the winningest player in program history, as well as Ayton, Allonzo Trier and Rawle Alkins — the Wildcats’ three early entries for the NBA draft. While the Wildcats greeted fans after the game, Ristic took off his jersey and revealed a “Dusan loves Tucson” undershirt.
43. Woods records first triple-double with blocks
Date: Feb. 3, 2000
The Ooh Aah Man, Joe Cavaleri, pumps up the crowd during the Arizona-Stanford men's basketball game at McKale Center on January 10, 2004.
What happened: The stereotypical triple-double involves points, rebounds and assists, but Arizona center Loren Woods, who is tied with Christian Koloko for most blocks in a season, recorded 16 points, 10 rebounds and 14 blocks (!) in a 77-71 win over Oregon.
42. GymCats beat Utah for first time
Date: Feb. 25, 2022
What happened: Career performances from Elena Deets, Sirena Linton, Carolina Herry and Malia Hargrove carried the UA gymnastics team to an upset victory over national powerhouse Utah for the first time in program history.
41. Al Fleming’s 41-point game vs. Detroit
Date: Jan. 10, 1976
What happened: Al Fleming, Arizona’s record-holder for double-doubles (68), had 41 points — the most by a Wildcat at McKale Center — and grabbed 11 rebounds against a Dick Vitale-coached Detroit team. It remains the only 40-point, 10-rebound game in program history. Fleming joined the McKale Center Ring of Honor this year.
Photos: 50 years of McKale Center at the University of Arizona
The University of Arizona campus in 1967, showing the empty lot right of Sancet Field at the bottom of the frame where McKale Center sits today. Construction of the viewing stands at Sancet Field underway. Arizona Stadium is starting to look like the current-day structure after a multi-level press box and 10,000 seats were added to the west grandstand in 1965. Note the Warren Ave. and Martin Ave. still poke through campus all the way to Speedway Blvd.
Excavation for McKale Center on the University of Arizona campus in January 1971. View is southeast. Dirt from the excavation is piled on an empty lot bounded by Martin Ave., Campbell Ave., and 4th and 5th streets. All but Campbell were eaten up by university expansion.
Hank Leiber, left, and legendary University of Arizona coach James Fred "Pop" McKale, ca. 1950s. Leiber was a baseball star for UA in the 1930s and played in two World Series with the New York Giants and made the All-Star game twice with the Chicago Cubs.
UA athletic director Dick Clausen, shown in 1969, Clausen was the driving force behind construction of McKale Center.
McKale Center under construction in 1972, looking southeast from the College of Optical Sciences.
McKale Center under construction in September 1971, looking southeast from the College of Optical Sciences.
Excavation for the service drive to the McKale Center floor in 1972. The steel beams to hold up the roof sit low across the bowl before being lifted into place.
A camera with a fisheye lens gives a bird's eye view of progress on McKale Center in December, 1971.
Crowds raise the roof at the University of Arizona's McKale Center now, but in January 1972, it was a construction crew that was carrying out that task.
Steel beams that hold up the McKale Center roof sit on the concrete bowl before being raised into place in 1972.
McKale Center under construction from the interior in August 1972.
McKale Center interior takes shape on Aug. 4, 1972.
The new McKale Center starting to take shape as construction continues at the University of Arizona on August 4, 1972. The health and physical education complex includes a 15,000-seat basketball facility. McKale, named after legendary coach James "Pop" McKale Center, replaced the aging Bear Down Gym.
A protective plastic roof over the McKale Center floor on Dec. 12, 1972. The floor was scheduled for completion in October, but the concrete floor was not drying as expected. Workers erected the tent and used gas heaters to speed the process.
Workers lay the floor for McKale Center under a protective plastic roof on Dec. 19, 1972,
McKale Center with its gleaming copper dome in place on Feb. 28, 1973.
13,652 fans watched the Arizona Wildcats defeat Wyoming, 87-69, and move into a tie for the lead in the Western Athletic Conference on opening night of McKale Memorial Center, Feb. 1, 1973, Coniel Norman led the Wildcats with 37 points.
The newly-minted McKale Memorial Center on the southeast corner of the University of Arizona campus in May, 1973. Note Arizona Stadium with the original stands on the east side and the open north end. Warren Avenue still goes through campus. Martin Ave. dead-ends at the new McKale Lawn and extended UA Mall.
Betty McKale, daughter of legendary UA coach "Pop" McKale, tries out the dance hall piano under the watchful gaze of her father's painting (above) in the McKale Center trophy room (McKale Room) on Nov. 29, 1973.
The trophy room at McKale Center, also known as the McKale Room, shown on Nov. 29, 1973, displayed University of Arizona athletic trophies.
Football training room at McKale Center on March 24, 1975.
One of the entrances to McKale Center on March 24, 1975.
After playing on a borrowed wooden basketball floor during the 1975-76 season, the UA installed their own floor as seen on Oct. 28, 1976. It was put down on top of the original Tartan floor built at McKale Center. The first game on the new floor was against the Yugoslavian Olympic team.
After playing on a borrowed wooden basketball floor during the 1975-76 season, the UA installed their own floor as seen on Oct. 28, 1976. It was put down on top of the original Tartan floor built at McKale Center. The first game on the new floor was against the Yugoslavian Olympic team.
McKale Center seating chart published in the Tucson Citizen in 1977.
UA head coach Fred Snowden surrounded by players during University of Arizona basketball vs. Arizona State at McKale Center in Tucson on Mar. 6, 1976.
McKale Center as seen from Arizona Stadium, looking northeast, in 1982. Today, the realigned Warren Avenue dead-ends at the Cherry Avenue parking garage, which took the place of the surface lot at left.
1973: Players practice on the new McKale Center basketball floor on Nov. 19, 1973.
1990: The Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team during a game at McKale Center in December, 1990.
2014: Renovations inside McKale Memorial Center in 2014 included seating and a new basketball floor.
2018: Participants in coach David Rubio's volleyball camp break out into groups at McKale Center in Tucson on July 16, 2018.
2023: Just under 9,000 fans in the stands as Arizona women's basketball takes on Washington at McKale Center on January 27, 2023.
University of Arizona women's basketball players (dark jerseys) run the floor during a game against Arizona State at McKale Center on Jan. 9, 1978.
UA basketball legend Coniel Norman teaches young athletes about basketball basics at McKale Center in June, 1975.
Fans swarm the court after University of Arizona (still in the Western Athletic Conference) defeated basketball powerhouse UCLA (then #1 in the nation), 70-69, at McKale Center on Jan. 18, 1979.
Senator Barry Goldwater speaking at UA graduation ceremonies at McKale Center on May 13, 1989.
Former University of Houston athletic director Cedric Dempsey speaking in the McKale Room at McKale Center on Aug. 17, 1982, after being named athletic director of the University of Arizona. It was a post he kept until 1993.
Linda Ronstadt in concert at McKale Center on Nov. 2, 1980. The original negatives are missing from the archives, but the contact sheets of all the outtakes remain. Note the comment on the photo assignment.
Thousands of people line up outside McKale Center on Oct. 15, 1978, for tickets to see Bob Dylan in concert at the arena. Dylan performed for 11,000 fans on Nov. 19.
Donald Trump with girlfriend Marla Maples at a University of Arizona basketball game at McKale Center, Tucson, on Dec. 27, 1990. (© Arizona Daily Star)
University of Arizona women's basketball coach Joan Bonvicini works with players at McKale Center in 1991, her first year as coach.
Barbara Brady answers the phone in the University of Arizona basketball office in McKale Center in 1997. The office was in the midst of a major face left. Improvements included enlarging quarters for Coach Lute Olson and redecorating the rest of the office.
A.J. Greene looks over the shoulder of UA student Anna Marie Butler in 1998 as she signs the bottom of a piece of the new basketball floor in McKale Center.
Assistant UA basketball coach Jim Rosborough explains some basketball secrets to 270 Lute Olson Basketball Camp participants during an afternoon lecture on June 16, 1998.
UA basketball coach Lute Olson waves to the crowd as he is introduced during the midnight madness practice game at the McKale Center on Oct. 12. 2001. UA competed in their second NCAA national championship game the previous season.
Arizona junior Sirena Linton finishes her bar routine while fellow teammates watch during Arizona Wildcats Gymnastics final home meet against Sacramento State at McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz. on March 10, 2022.
Arizona outside hitter Kendra Dahlke rises high from deep on the court to smash a spike against Arizona State at McKale Center on Sept. 21, 2016.
Arizona guard Aari McDonald (2) flies into the pain against Wyoming in their round of eight game of the WNIT at McKale Center on March 31, 2019.
Arizona guard Aari McDonald high-fives fans as she enters the court in McKale Center on March 1, 2020.
Sand volleyball player Jianna Bonomi walks past some of the images of legendary University of Arizona basketball players such as Steve Kerr, Sean Elliott, Gilbert Arenas, Mike Bibby and others in a hallway in McKale Center in 2015.
Graduates get one last celebration on the floor of McKale Center following the Spring 2012 Commencement. Dr. Peter Rhee, Chief of Trauma and Critical Care at UMC during the 2011 mass shooting, was the honorary guest speaker. A total of 4,206 undergraduate degrees, 882 master's degrees, and 298 doctoral degrees were conferred.
Hallways at McKale Center have been upgraded through the years to commemorate the UA's basketball history, such as the 2011 display honored legendary coach Lute Olson.
University of Arizona deputy director of athletics Kathleen "Rocky" LaRose makes her rounds through the coaching offices in McKale Center during her last full day of work on Oct. 8, 2013, after 30 years in athletics.
Forward Cate Reese slams the NCAA March Madness bracket after a first-round victory over UNLV at McKale Center on March 19, 2022.
The University of Arizona once had a live "Wildcat" mascot; however, the current mascot ─ with a few changes that include wife, Wilma, along the way ─ Wilbur the Wildcat has been a favorite around Tucson for more than 60 years.
