Cole Field House Continues to be A Symbol of Pride

It is hard to believe that it has been 15 years since the most iconic building on Maryland's campus has hosted a Men's Basketball game. On March 3, 2002, the Maryland Men's Basketball team defeated Virginia to close out a regular season that ended with a National Championship and the closing of the beloved arena.  Cole Field House meant so much to so many people that were privy to have attended an event there over it's 47 year history, and for the Terrapin Alumni (especially the Alumni who grew up in The Baltimore/Washington Metro Area) it meant so much more.  It was a symbol of local pride.  It was a place that was steeped in historical significance, and everyone who called themselves a Terp knew its secrets.  But outsiders could not fully grasp what it meant to the Maryland alumni.  It was a basketball Mecca that hosted contests that would herald the evolution of the game into what we see today.  It hosted concerts and athletic events that held significance beyond the hard court.  Cole Field House was a place that every Terp who grew up in this area felt proud about and made sure that those stories were passed on to the next generation.

My father, and local Maryland Alumnus, would always tell me how Cole Field House was special because it was the only on campus venue of it's size when it opened in 1955, which is why it hosted some of the biggest basketball games in the country.  Everyone knows about Texas Western beating Kentucky in 1966 that would herald the integration of college basketball.  Little do people know that one year earlier Cole hosted one of the most significant high school games in history.  Local legend Morgan Wootten led DeMatha High School to victory over Power Memorial Academy and some guy named Lew Alcindor.  Everyone growing up in the DC area knows DeMatha basketball, and that game carried clout for a local team defeating the guy who some would still call the best basketball player ever and it happened at Cole Field House.  My dad would also tell me about the Maryland vs. South Carolina slow down game that was played at Cole Field House.  It seems more relevant now, but South Carolina was one of the founding members of the ACC and a basketball powerhouse back in the early years of the conference. On January 9 1971, the Terps beat South Carolina in a 31-30 barn burner that was 4-3 at halftime.  This was one of the classic slow down games that some point to being one of the inspirations for putting the shot clock into college basketball.  These were the main stories I remember my dad telling me, but I know that other Terrapin Alumni have their stories they heard from their parents.

Some may have heard about the first ever nationally televised women's basketball game that was held at Cole in 1975.  Others may have listened to how Maryland phenom Len Bias outscored Michael Jordan at Cole Field House in 1984.  Some may have heard about Elvis's performance at Cole in 1974, or the Chinese National Ping Pong Team playing in America for the first time at Cole in 1973 at the behest of Richard Nixon.  Most people, though, heard about the seven number one seeds that lost at Cole Field House, six of which came at the hands of the Terps, and the last one coming on Feb. 17 of that magical National Championship season.  I still hold the ticket stub to that game in my wallet, and it will be the story of attending that game that I will pass on to my kids when they are old enough to understand it.  Of course they will
know as much about Sheldon Williams and Mike Dunleavy Jr. as I knew about the 1971 South Carolina Gamecocks.  But it was the conviction and reverence in my dad's voice when speaking about how the game was at Cole that let me know that it was more than just a basketball conversation.  My father was instilling in me a sense of appreciation of the history that was a part of his life and this area that only Terp alumni who came from this area could appreciate, and that is what I intend to pass on to my kids.  The significance of those stories could have waned as Cole Field House was left fallow for so many years, but the renovations of Cole Field House have rejuvenated the importance of those stories, and created new ones for a new generation.

The $155 million renovation project to Cole Field House has given new life to the historic building and once again made it a beacon for the collegiate world to follow.  It will be the home to Maryland's ground breaking Sports Medicine Program and Entrepreneurship Lab, as well as being a state of the art training facility for The Maryland Athletic Teams.  More importantly, it continues the tradition of Cole Field House being the gold standard for collegiate buildings.  No longer will students get to see players like Len Elmore or Juan Dixon defeat hated rivals in basketball, but through its revitalization those stories hold new relevance when alumni speak to younger generations about the history of Cole Field House.  The new building will also give future generations of alumni their own history to tell about how Cole Field House continues to be a symbol of innovation and pioneering.  There will be classes of Alumni who will earn a cutting edge degree from the programs that will call Cole Field House their home.  So when older generations go on about Cole Field House being a significant building in sports history, newer generations can respond to them by saying that because of Cole Field House their Maryland Degree means more in the real world.  Cole Field House will now forever be the symbol of The University of Maryland, and the source of local pride for all the Terrapin Alumni who hail from the Baltimore-Washington area.