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The Golden Anniversary of Pauley Pavilion
NCAA Titles by Pauley Teams | Half a Century of History at Pauley
UCLA opened the new $5-million Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion on June 11, 1965 with its graduation commencement ceremony. Exactly 50 years later, the UCLA Athletic Department will hold its student-athlete graduation ceremony in the same arena that, over the years, has played host to some of sports and pop culture’s most indelible moments.
From that first commencement ceremony in 1965 to a 33-month $136-million renovation from 2010-12, Pauley Pavilion enters its next half-century the same way it began its first – as one of the finest all-around collegiate facilities in the entire nation.
The history of Pauley Pavilion dates back to the early 1960s when UCLA Chancellor Franklin D. Murphy approached University of California Regent Edwin W. Pauley for a lead gift on the Bruins’ planned sports arena. Pauley’s $1 million donation was made as a challenge to UCLA alumni to raise a 2:1 match, which was met. With the State of California adding $2 million and Bruin students raising another $1 million through fees, the path was paved for a new state-of-the-art arena on campus.
Five months after its opening, on Nov. 27, 1965, the very first UCLA men’s basketball game was held in Pauley. Playing before 12,051 Bruin faithful in the annual intra-squad contest, UCLA’s freshmen team, known as the Brubabes, defeated John Wooden’s two-time defending NCAA Champion UCLA varsity squad, 75-60, behind 31 points and 21 rebounds by a young upstart from New York by the name of Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).
That game ushered in an unprecedented half century of success, with Pauley Pavilion serving as home to UCLA teams (women’s and men’s basketball, gymnastics, volleyball) that have accounted for 40 of the Bruins’ record 112 NCAA team titles: Al Scates’ men’s volleyball (19); John Wooden’s men’s basketball (8), Jim Harrick’s men’s basketball (1), Valorie Kondos Field’s women’s gymnastics (6); Andy Banachowski’s women’s volleyball (3), Michael Sealy’s women’s volleyball (1) and Art Shurlock’s men’s gymnastics (2).
In addition to the NCAA championships, Pauley was also home to Billie Moore’s 1978 UCLA women’s basketball AIAW championship team, Walt Hazzard’s 1985 Bruin men’s basketball NIT squad and Cori Close’s 2015 UCLA women’s basketball WNIT title-winning team.
Cultural Impact In addition to its athletic prowess, Pauley Pavilion has also been the site of numerous important musical, international, entertainment industry and political events. From concerts by Bob Marley, the Grateful Dead, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Frank Sinatra, Henry Mancini, Luciano Pavarotti, Lenny Kravitz, Frank Zappa, Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, The Who, Phish, Jay-Z and Rihanna to events such as the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, MTV Video Music Awards and VH1 Rock Honors to the Dalai Lama’s 1997 visit, Pauley Pavilion has quite literally seen it all.
In 1984, Pauley welcomed the world to Los Angeles for the Summer Olympics, serving as the venue for women’s and men’s gymnastics and women’s artistic gymnastics (in the men’s competition, Bruins Peter Vidmar, Mitch Gaylord and Tim Daggett helped lead the USA to the team gold medal). In 1994, President Bill Clinton appeared at UCLA’s 75th anniversary convocation in Pauley Pavilion. And in 1988, Pauley opened its doors for the presidential debate between George H. W. Bush and Michael Dukakis, now a visiting professor in the School of Public Affairs. If only its walls could talk, the stories they would tell.
Coach Wooden
On Dec. 20, 2003, the dedication of Nell and John Wooden Court was the afternoon’s highlight as UCLA defeated Michigan State, 64-58. To celebrate the naming of Pauley Pavilion court after Coach Wooden and his late wife Nell, there was a pre-game reception/luncheon and ceremony on the Pauley floor. During the ceremony Coach Wooden addressed the capacity crowd, with over 100 of his Bruin players, coaches and student managers standing with him on the storied court. Nearly eight years later on Feb. 26, 2011, in a story fit for this Hollywood town, UCLA defeated Arizona, 71-49, in the final men’s basketball game inside Pauley Pavilion before its renovation. It wasn’t the win, however, that will go down as the most memorable moment of the night. With Coach Wooden’s 1971 NCAA Championship team in attendance after being honored earlier in the night, the final field goal of the game was scored by UCLA’s Tyler Trapani - Coach Wooden’s great-grandson. And with that, another chapter in the illustrious history of Pauley Pavilion came to a close.
Renovation
“Our family’s view has always been to support the Bruins since we are Bruin fans first,” said Matt Pauley, MBA, UCLA Anderson School of Management, 1995-97, and grandson of Edwin W. Pauley. “We want to be supportive of UCLA and of the tradition of Pauley Pavilion, Coach Wooden and UCLA basketball. So from that aspect we’re fully on board with the concept of renovation and doing whatever we need to do to support the project.”
With Pauley serving as co-Chairman of the Pauley Pavilion ‘Campaign of Champions’ fund-raising committee, fittingly The Edwin W. Pauley Foundation donated the first gift for the Pauley Pavilion renovation in the amount of $1.25 million.
The project, with a price tag of $136 million, received funding through a variety of sources: $100 million from private gifts, $21 million in long-term debt backed by the Athletic Department general operating budget and $15 million from an existing annual fee paid by UCLA students to help fund earthquake and life-safety upgrades to student facilities.
With a ground-breaking ceremony on May 11, 2010 held on Pauley Pavilion’s east exterior concourse, participants including Chancellor Gene Block, Athletic Director Dan Guerrero, Matt Pauley and the head coaches of UCLA’s teams that compete in Pauley used blue and gold shovels to dig up the ground in anticipation of the ‘new’ Pauley Pavilion.
During the renovation, the UCLA men’s basketball team played its 2011-12 home games at the Los Angeles Sports Arena while the John Wooden Center Collins’ Court served as home for women’s basketball, women’s and men’s volleyball and women’s gymnastics.
In advance of Pauley Pavilion’s reopening, on Oct. 26, 2012, a statue of Coach John Wooden was unveiled outside the northeast corner of the renovated arena. Designed by renowned sculptor Blair Buswell, Coach Wooden’s statue was made possible from a generous donation by longtime UCLA Athletics supporters, Jim and Carol Collins. The unveiling was emceed by Ann Meyers Drysdale and highlighted by speeches from prominent Bruins and members of the Wooden family.
From Oct. 28-Nov. 4, 2012, UCLA featured four events to highlight the opening of the renovated Pauley Pavilion. On Oct. 28, UCLA hosted the ‘Pauley Pavilion Campaign of Champions Celebration,’ a night of entertainment in the ‘new’ arena. An invitation-only event for approximately 800 campus and community leaders, it featured UCLA sports legends and donors who contributed to the ‘Pauley Pavilion Campaign of Champions.’ The event began when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar dribbled a basketball into the Pavilion, then passed it to UCLA Athletics Director Dan Guerrero, who gave the opening speech. The celebration featured a reception throughout the concourse, followed by a program on Nell and John Wooden Court, a speech from Chancellor Gene Block and the first-ever UCLA Parade of Athletes.
UCLA’s first men’s basketball game in the renovated Pauley Pavilion was Nov. 9, 2012, beating Indiana State, 86-59 and setting a new attendance record (13,513). The game honored Coach Wooden for his years of coaching at UCLA (1949-75) and Indiana State (1947-48, Indiana Teachers College). Four months later, in UCLA’s final regular season home game, the Bruins set another attendance mark (13,727), in a 74-69 defeat of Arizona.
The Great ‘Flood’
On July 29, 2014, a major underground water main broke in the center of Sunset Blvd. and flooded the UCLA north campus. Images of flood waters racing down Bruin Walk towards Pauley Pavilion were beamed across the country. Numerous buildings and facilities on campus were impacted by the seemingly endless stream of gushing water. The John Wooden Center, J. D. Morgan Center, Drake Stadium, parking structures 4 and 7 and of course, Pauley Pavilion, were among the hardest hit facilities.
Later that evening, UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero addressed the Bruin community: "Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out. Coach Wooden understood that life sometimes presents unexpected challenges, and how one reacts is often more important than the event itself. This was never more true than during the past 24 hours at UCLA, as the incredible response from so many staff, students, alumni and fans to the unprecedented flooding makes me prouder than ever to be a Bruin."
The early word was that inside Pauley Pavilion, the north side of the building was the most impacted by the flooding. The water reached the lower level of Pauley and affected the playing surface, locker rooms and other ancillary areas as well as the Pavilion Club. While assessments were ongoing in regard to the damage and how to proceed, the building itself had not been structurally compromised. The largest issue faced within Pauley was in regard to the playing surface and how to best proceed to ensure that the facility would be ready for the men’s and women’s basketball teams upcoming seasons.
Ultimately, Pauley was closed for less than three months as repairs were made to the building, which included replacing the entire wood playing surface with a brand new floor to return it to its original condition. As promised, on October 31, 2014, the UCLA men’s basketball team returned to the iconic venue for its preseason contest with Azusa Pacific. Not even a flood could keep Pauley Pavilion down.