Gill Coliseum

Great stadium, lots of past athletics murals on the walls. Great place to see a basketball game.

Very hot inside, no Coke and poor ice cream. Not my favorite place. Good sight lines and friendly people. Does not open until 1 hour before the game, unlike other pac 12 arenas that open 90 minutes before
Easy to find. The drive back to Eugene at night can be challenging.

It’s like a scene from Hoosiers. This is an old time relic of years past this has been painstakingly preserved. Don’t change it!
It has that true college feel, not the artificial glammed up feel if the high dollar places. This feels like a college not a business.

THE TIME
December 29, 2013. The previous night, my dad and I had made the long trip from San Francisco to Corvallis, Oregon, after watching the Notre Dame football team beat Rutgers in the Pinstripe Bowl. We ended up leaving in the afternoon because we had to watch the game, and I assumed we would be spending the night somewhere along the 5 in Oregon, but my dad insisted he wasn’t tired, so we (mostly he) braved crazy windy roads and crazy winter fog and crazy low visibility and made it all the way to Corvallis (573 miles) in one night. All of this, and we had no idea that one of his tires was bad.
THE PLACE
Gill Coliseum. Our Irish would be taking on the Beavers, and I didn’t know quite what to expect. Quite coincidentally, we were sitting next to a group of six or seven Irish fans. I had bought our tickets beforehand, and the arena was filled almost entirely with OSU fans; I only saw one other group wearing green. Gary Payton was staring down at me from the rafters, and I guess I kind of expected that, but you know who else was? That’s right, the man, the myth, the legend, the finest poorest starting player past his prime on any NBA championship team ever, A.C. Green. A.C. went to Oregon State? Maybe I knew this, but it scared me a little bit too, because the only thing worse than driving thousands of miles to see a women’s basketball game only to find that your favorite player didn’t make the trip – thankfully, she did – is driving thousands of miles to see a women’s basketball game only to see your team lose under an A.C. Green banner. No disrespect to Reverend Green, none whatsoever. I love the man and think he’s the classiest Laker of all time, and he could board even when he was old.
THE REASON
No. 11, Natalie Achonwa. It might have been my only opportunity to see her playing college hoops. (That ended up being untrue as well, as my dad and I caught the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight ND games at Notre Dame in March 2014, including Ace’s final, shake-​down-​the-​thunder game. I still get goosebumps when I think of that performance.) Natalie had a decent little Sunday afternoon: 7 for 14 from the floor, 2 for 2 from the line, 16 total points. She also grabbed 9 rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a block. I was calling for Muffet McGraw to leave Ace in so she could get another double-​double, but Muffet’s too classy for that, and Natalie only played 29 minutes.
THE EXPERIENCE
Wonderful. All around. From the seats to the noise to the people, including tons of families with small children, it was definitely a memorable experience. It was winter break, so not many students were around, and I was impressed by the family atmosphere and everyone’s seeming deep knowledge of women’s basketball and Oregon State’s team specifically. In many ways, it reminded me of South Bend’s love for and dedication to our lovely Irish women. It’s a very intimate place to catch a game, and it feels exactly how you want a college arena to feel.
THE MOMENT
With 49 seconds left in the game and the Irish up 66 – 58 and Oregon State’s Jamie Weisner having turned the ball over just after a missed three-​pointer, the arena was silent. The crowd knew that OSU’s best chance to cut the lead had come and gone, and all that was left was intentional fouling. Who broke the silence? The guy sitting – no, standing at seat 16, row 6, section 13. That green-​T-​shirted guy started clapping his hands and yelling at the top of his lungs, «Let’s go Irish!» and the six or seven Notre Dame fans next to him joined in, and all 4,032 people in attendance could hear it because the arena had fallen silent in anticipation of defeat, and even a couple of the Notre Dame players (though sadly, not Natalie) looked up, and then, just to shut him up, the entire arena began cheering for their Oregon State Beavers, who had looked decent even though they were outplayed. So yes, I’m the one who got the OSU fans to their feet late in the game, not their team, although their team deserved the ovation. They were trying to drown me out, and for that, I’m thankful. College sports are a wonderful thing.

Basketball (mens and womens), volleyball, wrestling, gymnastics, and more. Great event center in Corvallis. Known as «the Legendary Gill Coliseum», it is the place to go cheer on you Beavs year round.
Getting quite outdated though.

Legendary Gill, the old playground of Gary Payton!!!