Williams Arena History

Williams Arena is home to the University of Minnesota Gopher basketball. Williams Arena has a long and interesting history. If you want to read about Williams Arena, there is a good page on www.gopherbastketballtickets.com My favorite Williams Arena facts include: Williams Arena was first known from 1928 to 1950 as the Minnesota Field House. In the 1950’s the arena was renovated and renamed Williams Arena after Dr. Henry L. Williams, Gopher Football coach from 1900 to 1921. Williams Arena also has and still is affectionately referred to as “The Barn.”

Williams Arena Atmosphere is one of a kind

Right across the street from Mariucci Arena, Williams Arena is in a great location on the University of Minnesota Minneapolis campus. Frat boys can walk there, suburbanites can park in one of the many ramps around and bar-goers in Dinkytown might be inebriated enough to walk the half-mile to Williams Arena.

I was recently at Williams Arena for the Colorado State game, which the Gophers men’s basketball team dominated. But it was more than the score of the game and the predictable outcome. It was what the atmosphere of Williams Arena brought me back to, that is, my playing days in high school. Williams Arena is the cavernous Target Center. It is more cozy and friendly. It’s more like, you know, a barn. I scored the Golden Gophers men’s basketball tickets from my boss, and watching Tubby Smith and his old-school pressing tactics really flooded with me memories.

Not to mention the student section at Williams Arena was an absolute hoot. There were five people dressed up in full ape costumes making a spectacle out of themselves. “The Barn” is always filled with a raucous student section consequently titled “The Barnyard” if you didn’t know.