1979–80 Men’s Basketball 1979–80 Wrestling Oregon State overcomes an 8-point deficit in the final two minutes — with no shot clock or 3-point shot at that time — to beat Arizona State 82-74 in overtime. It’s a key victory in OSU taking the first of three straight Pac-10 titles and ending UCLA’s string of 13 consecutive crowns. Oregon State again hosts the NCAA Championships. Beaver heavyweight Howard Harris wins the national title, earning a 46-0 record with 40 pins for the season. Harris wins the meet’s Most Outstanding Wrestler award, having pinned all his opponents in the national meet. OSU places ninth. “Slats” Gill. It was his popular winning teams, after all, that helped spur the need for a larger arena. The coliseum’s first event, a concert by the Vienna Boys Choir, was on Nov. 18, 1949, when the building was still under construction. The first athletic event was Oregon State’s 53-41 win over Utah in men’s basketball on Dec. 16, 1949. “Those who were here for the dedication game were astonished by the size and comfort of this massive arena,” wrote Don McLeod of The Oregonian, noting it compared favorably with the “ultra-modern emporiums” Madison Square Garden and the Kansas City Municipal Auditorium. thE SCENE OF thE ACtION The initial events foreshadowed the wide variety of athletic and non- athletic events that would soon be available for Oregon State students, the Corvallis community and even wider audiences. Gill was the spot for Oregon State graduations from 1950 through 2000, as well as the annual Beta Theta Pi Turtle Derby from the 1960s into the 1980s. In 1957, the university constructed KOAC’s first TV studios in the building. The Horner Museum, a collection of curiosities from around the world, was housed in Gill’s basement from 1950 until 1995. The Oregon State Junior-Senior Prom was held there during the 1950s and 1960s. Native American students organize an annual powwow — now in its 45th year — at the site. It’s been host to concerts ranging from Marian Anderson to the Grateful Dead to Garth Brooks to military bands; a Model United Nations convention; interfraternity/sorority and all-campus group singing competitions; high school graduations; Corvallis- OSU Symphony performances; high school state tournaments in basketball, wrestling and volleyball; and speakers including Richard Nixon, Robert Kennedy, Jesse Jackson, Alex Haley and Ogden Nash. Gill has provided a forum for not just speeches but also social change and awareness. On Feb. 25, 1969, at a time of racial tension on campus and around the nation, Oregon State alumnus and two-time Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling was delivering an OSU Centennial Lecture in Gill when OSU’s Black Student Union staged a “walk-in.” With Pauling and OSU President James Jensen on the dais, approximately 70 students approached the stage. Even8 QUICK FACTS: 1 5 3 6 2 8 4 7 GROUND‑ BREAKING DATE: June 5, 1948 CONSTRUCTION COMPLETED: June 1950 NAMESAKE: Amory T. “Slats” Gill was an Oregon State men’s basketball player from 1922 to 1924, men’s basketball head coach from 1928 to 1964, and Oregon State’s athletic director from 1964 until his death in 1966. COST: $1,800,000 ($23,800,000 in 2024 dollars) FIRST EVENT: Vienna Boys Choir concert on Nov. 18, 1949 CAPACITIES: 10,200 (when it opened); 9,301 (now) BIGGEST CROWD: 11,709 for men’s basketball (Oregon State 82, Oregon 66) on Feb. 3, 1962 FIRST ATHLETIC EVENT: Men’s basketball game (Oregon State 53, Utah 41) on Dec. 16, 1949 It was [Coach Gill’s] popular winning teams, after all, that helped spur the need for a larger arena.” (NEXT SPREAD) THE GRATEFUL DEAD: GETTY IMAGES/CHRIS WALTER; MARIAN ANDERSON: MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES; WILLIE NELSON: FLICKR/ROBERTA; ANI DIFRANCO: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/SCHORLE; THE TEMPTATIONS: PUBLIC DOMAIN/GORDY RECORDS; B.B. KING, FLEETWOOD MAC: PUBLIC DOMAIN
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