The
University of Delaware men's
and women's
basketball teams will begin their 21th season
in the $20.5 million, 5,000-seat Bob
Carpenter Center Acierno Arena during the
2012-2013 season.
The Blue
Hen men have posted a record
of 167-88 (.655) in the building entering the 2011-12 season, including
christening the arena with a 77-69 win
over rival Rutgers Dec. 1, 1992. The Blue
Hen women own a record of
169-75 (.693), including a 74-53 win over
Temple in their BCC debut Dec. 1,
1992. The UD women have won 70 percent of their conference games in the BCC (115-51).
The Blue
Hen men's basketball team especialy has
enjoyed outstanding success at the
Carpenter Center since beginning play here
in 1992-93 and have established a strong
homecourt advantage.
The Bob Carpenter Center served as the site of the America East Men's Basketball Tournament for six years from 1996 until 2001 and as site of the Colonial Athletic Association Women's Basketball Tournament in 2006-07 and 2007-08.
The arena
section of the building is named in honor
of Frank E. Acierno, a local businessman
and developer, who donated $1 million to
the Bob Carpenter Center, the largest gift
from a single donor. The BCC was formally
dedicated in a ceremony Nov. 10,
1992.
Delaware
basketball teams moved to their new home
after competing at 3,000-seat Delaware
Field House since 1967.
The Bob
Carpenter Center is the center of an
expansive collegiate athletic complex, the
David M. Nelson Athletic Complex named in
memory of the former University of
Delaware athletic director, dean, and head
football coach.
The Bob
Carpenter Center served for the first time
as headquarters for the National
Basketball Association Philadelphia
76ers
pre-season training camp in October, 1995
with the team drawing large daily crowds,
including a sellout crowd of 5,000 fans
for the final scrimmage. The Sixers also
held their pre-season camp at the BCC in
1996 before moving to alternate
sites.
The Bob
Carpenter Center, named in honor of
longtime University board of trustee
member, athletic benefactor, and former
Philadelphia Phillies owner R.R.M. "Bob"
Carpenter Jr. who died in 1990, serves as
home for the University's football and
basketball programs as well as a site for
a wide variety of other events such as
convocations, concerts, and
banquets.
Special
features of the facility are a 120-person
football locker room, men's and women's
basketball locker rooms, administrative
offices, the state-of-the-art Chuck Hall
Memorial Weight Room, and athletic
training rooms.
Directly
accessible to the locker room areas are
three classroom meeting areas and a
120-seat lecture hall used for team
meetings, classes, and press
conferences.
The Bob
Carpenter Center also includes a
comfortable glass-walled reception lounge
area, the Bob Carpenter Club, with views
into Delaware Stadium and to the Acierno
Arena; and a scoreboard with a color video
message center. The original wood floor was a 203-panel
tongue-and-groove 60-by-112 foot maple
arena floor, the same floor used for the
1992 NCAA Division I men's basketball
championship game in
Minneapolis. The floor was replaced prior to the 2006-07 season.
The
facility was designed by the
architectural/engineering firm of
Hellmuth,
Obata & Kassabaum
Inc.
of Kansas City, Mo., one of the top firms
in the country.
Also
involved with the project were local firms
Tevebaugh and Associates of Wilmington,
and Landmark Engineering Inc. and Healy
Management Services Inc., both of New
Castle.
From
the North
and the East
:
I-95 South
to Delaware
exit 1-B,
Route 896
north. Bob
Carpenter
Center is
located on
right just
after Routes
4/896
intersection.
From
the South
and the
West:
I-95 North
to Maryland
Exit 109B,
Route 279
north (also
called Route
2). Proceed
on this road
which
becomes
Elkton Road
into Newark.
Turn right
at the
intersection
of Routes 2
(279) and 4.
Turn left at
intersection
of Routes
4/896. The
Bob
Carpenter
Center is
located on
the
right.
