Facility Tour

Capacity: 13,215

In 2024-25, The Pete Maravich Assembly Center continues its legacy as the historic home of LSU basketball as the Tigers begin their 54th season in the multi-purpose venue which opened late in 1971 and hosted its first men’s hoops game in Jan. 1972.

For a program that will play its 116th season, the former LSU Assembly Center is the venue that LSU has called its official home the longest following in the primary venues of the Huey Long Field House (now the Cox Communications Academic Center for Student-Athletes) and the Ag Center on the opposite side of the campus. That building was more commonly known to basketball fans as the “Cow Palace.”

Even after all these years, the Maravich Center is still a great place for basketball on the portable wood playing surface.

The building took on a much-needed new look prior to the 2017-18 season with the magnificent giant side and end video boards installed above the court that allows fans everywhere in the building to have a clear look at video and statistics. Last season, the boards were refurbished to keep them state-of-the-art vehicles to entertain and inform the fans during an evening at the Maravich Center.

New modern light capabilities offer some of the best light intensity that has been seen in the history of the building.

The building has seen constant changes since a three-year campaign began in 2005 once the LSU Athletic Department took over complete operation of the facility.

In a year when the building would also become famous worldwide as the site of the largest triage unit in history after Hurricane Katrina, the athletic department was able to finish its renovation in time for the 2005-06 season and turn the building back into a showcase for LSU men’s basketball.

An interactive concourse area depicting the history of the great players who have starred for LSU in the building, additional restrooms and new seats throughout the arena have taken the building to a new level.

Now, the building features a practice facility for men and women along with a men’s locker room complex helping the Assembly Center’s appeal for players and fans for years to come.

The Maravich Assembly Center is, like the other venues LSU basketball has bounced around in through its long history, unique in its own way.

Before moving across from Tiger Stadium (in the 1971-72 season), the Tigers set up shop in the Pavilion on the old LSU campus, the Huey Long Field House Gym Armory (now the Cox Communications Academic Center) and the John M. Parker Agricultural Center.

The building opened as the LSU Assembly Center. During the summer of 1988, then Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer signed legislation changing the official name of the building to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in honor of the LSU star who had died tragically earlier that same year.

The Maravich Center is also the home for the LSU volleyball, gymnastics and women’s basketball teams.

Pete Maravich never got to play any of his college ball in the Assembly Center, but the plans for the building came while he and the Tigers were packing the “Cow Palace” from 1967-70. So, like Yankee Stadium being the “House that (Babe) Ruth Built”, the Assembly Center can certainly be classified as the “Palace that Pete Built.”

11.5 Million
Original cost of building — $11.5 million; one of the most visible structures on campus.

NCAA’s
Site of two NCAA Regional Basketball Tournaments: 1976, 1986

NIT’s
Site of eight NIT events: 1982, 1983, 1987, 1989, 2002, 2009, 2018, 2024

Women’s NCAA’s
Site of NCAA Women’s Basketball First and Second Rounds in 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2022, 2023, 2024.

East to West
East-to-West, you can put a football field and still have almost 33 yards of space left.

North to South
North-to-South, you can put another gridiron and have about 13 yards extra.

3,113,380
There are over one-fifth of a million square feet enclosed and over one-quarter of a million square feet throughout for a total of 3,113,380 cubic feet.

1,750
A total of 1,750 tons of air conditioning keeps the interior at year-round comfort.

LSU Basketball Practice Facility

The modern “workplace of hoops is helping LSU basketball be a better team and a better program every day.

While the front of the building is dominated by the statues of Shaquille O’Neal, Bob Pettit, Pete Maravich and Seimone Augustus, it is what goes on inside the facility that is most important to the present and future of the LSU men’s basketball program.

The chance to schedule practice when needed and the chance to get shots up and do player development work and their game any time is what makes this facility so important.

The facility features exact duplicate full-size gymnasiums for the men’s and women’s basketball teams. Each has two portable goals and four overhead retractable goals. Both courts are exact replicas of the PMAC competition court. Each gym features a scoreboard, video filming balcony and scorer’s table with video and data connection. Each gyms spans 11,324 square feet and includes a regulation NCAA court in length with two regulation high school courts in the opposition direction.

The building also includes a central two-story lobby and staircase that ascends to the second level that has a room that can hold approximately 500 people for pre-game and post-game functions that leads into the Maravich Center concourse. The lobby showcases team displays and graphics, trophy cases and memorabilia from the long history of LSU Basketball.

The area also includes the men’s locker room, team lounge, training room, laundry facility, coaches locker room and storage area. Also a new performance fueling station is being built in the lobby by the two practice gyms.

Most recently, a room in the facility was converted to a strength and conditioning room, allowing both teams to be able to complete their workouts in the basketball practice facility.

The facility was constructed by Guy Hopkins Construction of Baton Rouge based on designs by the firm of Tom Holden Architects of Baton Rouge in a unique joint venture with RDG Sports of Des Moines, Iowa.

Practice Facility Facts

Project Cost: $13,913,000

Ground Breaking: July 1, 2008

Facility Opening: Sept. 23, 2010 (Ribbon-cutting ceremony)

Total Project Area: 58,960 square feet of new construction and 1,100 square feet of renovated construction

Contractors: Guy Hopkins Construction of Baton Rouge based on the designs by the firm of Tom Holden Architects of Baton Rouge in a joint venture with RDG Sports of Des Moines, Iowa

• Two state-of-the-art practice gyms each spanning 11,324 square feet; includes a regulation NCAA court in length with two regulation high school courts in the opposite direction.
• Each gym has two portable goals and four overhead retractable goals; both are exact replicas of the PMAC competition court.
• Each gym can hold up to 800 people for special events.
• Each gym features a scoreboard, video filming balcony and scorer’s table with video and data connections to enable instant replay.
• A central two-story lobby and grand staircase ascends to the second level. The lobby showcases team displays and graphics, trophy cases and memorabilia from the past.
• The displays and wall graphics were designed by ZE Design of Centerville, Ohio.
• On the second level of the facility is the Legends Club that opens to an extension of the Maravich Center concourse. It can hold approximately 500 people for pre-game and post-game functions.
• Other areas of the addition include a Weight Room, Men’s Basketball Locker Room, Team Lounge, Training Room, Laundry Facility, Coach’s Locker Room and storage areas.

Season	Games	Wins	Losses	Pct.	Attendance	Average
1971-72	12	8	4	.667	93,875	7,823
1972-73	12	8	4	.667	110,881	9,240
1973-74	14	9	5	.643	144,111	10,294
1974-75	12	6	6	.500	99,589	8,299
1975-76	16	10	6	.625	124,357	7,772
1976-77	16	11	5	.688	133,636	8,352
1977-78	15	11	4	.733	148,423	9,895
1978-79	14	13	1	.929	177,964	12,712
1979-80	14	12	2	.857	175,339	12,524
1980-81	15	15	0	1.000	205,622	13,708
1981-82	13	9	4	.692	171,305	13,177
1982-83	15	11	4	.733	180,795	12,053
1983-84	14	12	2	.857	177,596	12,685
1984-85	15	13	2	.867	195,927	13,062
1985-86	16	13	3	.813	201,820	12,614
1986-87	16	10	6	.625	165,182	10,324
1987-88	15	11	4	.733	174,414	11,628
1988-89	16	11	5	.688	192,016	12,001
1989-90	18	16	2	.889	246,257	13,681
1990-91	16	15	1	.938	214,473	13,405
1991-92	16	12	4	.750	209,345	13,084
1992-93	17	15	2	.882	186,318	10,960
1993-94	14	8	6	.571	152,117	10,866
1994-95	16	9	7	.563	172,888	10,806
1995-96	18	11	7	.611	165,710	9,206
1996-97	15	9	6	.600	111,722	7,448
1997-98	16	8	8	.500	114,266	7,142
1998-99	16	12	4	.750	123,941	7,746
1999-2000	16	15	1	.938	168,784	10,549
2000-01	16	9	7	.563	129,709	8,107
2001-02	17	12	5	.706	145,078	8,534
2002-03	18	16	2	.889	156,368	8,687
2003-04	15	12	3	.800	140,321	9,355
2004-05	15	14	1	.933	141,139	9,409
2005-06	16	14	2	.875	151,499	9,469
2006-07	18	14	4	.778	180,038	10,002
2007-08	15	9	6	.600	128,469	8,565
2008-09	21	19	2	.905	217,834	10,373
2009-10	18	11	7	.611	160,836	8,935
2010-11	18	8	10	.444	128,749	7,153
2011-12	15	11	4	.733	129,910	8,661
2012-13	17	14	3	.824	130,105	7,653
2013-14	16	13	3	.813	142,567	8,910
2014-15	17	13	4	.765	151,148	8,891
2015-16	18	15	3	.833	204,890	11,383
2016-17	16	8	8	.500	112,207	7,013
2017-18	18	14	4	.778	162,533	9,030
2018-19	17	15	2	.882	179,116	10,536
2019-20	17	15	2	.882	171,294	10,076
2020-21 *	13	11	2	.846	28,433	2,187
2021-22	17	15	2	.882	178,562	10,504
2022-23	18	10	8	.555	167,723	9,318
2023-24	18	12	6	.667	138,702	7,706
2024-25
Totals (1972-2024)	842	627	215	.745	8,323,381	9,885

* limited capacity due to COVID-19 pandemic

Top 20 Men’s Basketball Crowds (Paid)

Through 2023-24 season; Current seating configuration adopted in 2005-06 season; Capacity after remodeling of seating area prior to the 2005-06 season changed to 13,215.

Rank	Attendance	Opponent	Date
1.	13,997	Kentucky	Feb. 10, 2015
2.	13,882	Oklahoma	Jan. 30, 2016
3.	13,839	Xavier (Ohio)	Jan. 24, 2009
4.	13,610	Arkansas	Jan. 16, 2016
5.	13,600	Alabama	Jan. 13, 2018
6.	13,581	Tennessee	Feb. 23, 2019
7.	13,573	Kentucky	Jan. 5, 2016
8.	13,546	Vanderbilt	March 9, 2019
9.	13,468	Florida	Feb. 27, 2016
	13,468	Georgia	Jan. 25, 2006
11.	13,345	Florida	Feb. 24, 2009
12.	13,311	Arkansas	Feb. 2, 2019
13	13,260	Kentucky	Feb. 18, 2020
14.	13,249	Vanderbilt	March 4, 2009
15.	13,123	Mississippi St.	Feb. 6, 2016
16.	13,121	Connecticut	Jan. 6, 2007
17.	13,083	Kentucky	Feb. 6, 2010
18.	12,928	Texas A&M	Feb. 13, 2016
19.	12,881	Tennessee	Feb. 8, 2022
20.	12,734	Arkansas	Feb. 15, 2022

Top 20 Men’s Basketball Crowds (Paid)

Previous Seating Configuration

Rank	Attendance	Opponent	Date
1.	15,694	Ole Miss	Feb. 25, 1981
2.	15,399	Ole Miss	Jan. 19, 1991
3.	15,242	Alabama	Jan. 21, 1989
4.	15,192	Kentucky	Jan. 19, 1981
5.	15,109	Vanderbilt	Jan. 2, 1991
6.	15,093	Auburn	Jan. 20, 1982
7.	14,987	Ole Miss	Feb. 1, 1989
8.	14,799	Ole Miss	Jan. 21, 1995
9.	14,687	Tennessee	Jan. 24, 1981
10.	14,568	Auburn	Jan. 15, 1979
11.	14,551	Kentucky	Feb. 11, 1978
11.	14,551	UCLA	Dec. 17, 1994
13.	14,486	Auburn	Feb 9, 2000
14.	14,460	McNeese State	Jan. 20, 1992
15.	14,449	Vanderbilt	Jan. 7, 1981
16.	14,444	Houston	Dec. 6, 1983
17.	14,429	Vanderbilt	Jan. 31, 1981
18.	14,418	Kentucky	Feb. 3, 1979
19.	14,417	Florida	March 1, 1989
20.	14,413	Kentucky	Jan. 27, 1973