Winter 2025 49 MIKE SHIELDS 2018–19 Women’s Basketball 2023 Gymnastics 2023–24 Women’s Basketball 2022–23 Wrestling the crowd. “I saw Karen Carpenter when the Carpenters came,” Haynes said. “I saw the Temptations. All those things you can go back to in your mind.” Marc Andresen, who attended OSU from 1967-69, remembers that after the Peter, Paul and Mary concert, the singing trio sat in the bleachers to talk with students.This wasn’t long after the group’s Paul Stookey had embraced Christianity, “so when he comes out and he’s talking about that with the students,” Andresen said, “it shocked the heck out of us because it hadn’t gone public … that was pretty cool.” Andresen, later a pastor of Calvin Presbyterian Church in Corvallis, recalled 27 local churches combining to rent Gill for a service on Easter Sunday in 2000; they estimated the attendance at about 10,000 and the offering collection of approximately $60,000 went to local charities.“I was profoundly moved to watch the place fill up,”Andresen said. AmemberofOSU’s pep band,Andresen said Gill’s architecture facilitated one of the band’s routines.The group split in half, with one group going upstairs and one downstairs. Playing, one half entered single file through one tunnel and exited through another; as soon as the last member left, the other half would enter through another tunnel, continuing the tune. FILLING GILL That was still part of the band’s antics in the late 1970s and early 1980s — the heyday of the Orange Express. There were 71 straight regular season crowds of at least 10,000 from the 1978-79 season into the 1984-85 season.With their seating limited to the north balcony, students camped on the ramps to get the best seats. (See a 1981 Ralph Miller Show clip about the ramps at bit.ly/gill-75.) Once inside, those 10,000-plus people made their presence felt. “The volume of the fans during that era of men’s basketball — it was loud, it was so loud,” Law said. “It was just so much fun.And, of course, the basketball was so phenomenal and fun to watch.” (Get a taste of the sensory overload in a video from 1982 at bit.ly/Orange-Express.) Law compared it to the current atmosphere at Beaver women’s basketball games. Gill, she said, plays a big part in that: “When you walk in Gill, it’s like it’s a family. There’s people [seated] on the floor.You walk in and it’s just this kind of warm family feeling that we’re in this together,” she said.“Ifyou’re a fan,you’re a competitor, whatever — you’re part of this.” Gill’s appeal goes beyond Oregon Staters. After OSU beat Oregon in a nationally televised women’s basketball game in 2019, broadcaster Kara Lawson tweeted, “Gill, you stole my ! If you’re a fan of hoop, you HAVE to check out that place.” After 75 years, Oregon Staters’ rumpus room remains a classic. “I’m really glad that it’s still there,” Law said. “And I hope it will always be.” Email stater@osualum.com to share your Gill memories. No.12 Oregon State knocks off No. 2 Oregon 67-62 in front of record crowd of 9,301 and a national television audience, snapping a 17-game Duck winning streak that was the longest in the nation. No. 13 Oregon State upsets No. 4 Utah in front of a record crowd of 8,859, posting the second-highest score in program history at 197.950 as it ties for the Pac-12 regular season championship. No. 11 Oregon State beats No. 9 UCLA 79-77 in a buzzer-beater as the teams trade the lead four times in the final seven seconds in front of a crowd of 8,525. With the lure of a strong team and a big-name opponent, Oregon State Wrestling attracts its largest crowd in decades, drawing 6,764 for a dual meet with No. 12 Oklahoma State, losing 20-12. It starts a trend: The next year, 8,540 show up to watch the Beavers fall 36-3 to No. 1 Penn State. If you’re a fan, you’re a competitor, whatever — you’re part of this.” ↗ OSU President John Byrne does the wave with an excited Gill Coliseum crowd.
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