Pete Maravich Assembly Center

Went here for the lsu women’s gymnastics meet the other day. I was very impressed with how clean the center was. Since I’m a student, the entrance fee was free and they had nice signs directing people where to go. In each seat was a yellow pom pom to cheer on the Tigers! Nice ac in the building and of course the Tigers took home the W!

LSU has updated this 1970’s facility the best that they can but its still not that great of a basketball arena. The bathrooms, concessions and isles are way to small for large crowds though at a football crazed school you don’t have many people at they games anyway. With all of the new money and buildings in the sports area on LSU campus I would have liked to have seen them build a new facility and name it for Dale Brown, hopefully one day they will.

LSU’s campus has a white dome which used to be all the Assembly Center. The Center was renamed the Pete Maravich Assembly Center as it truly is the house Pete built. Over the years, the PMAC served as a Hurricane Katrina Shelter as well as being the home for LSU Men’s and Women’s SEC champions basketball, Women’s Volleyball and Gymnastics.
The facility seats 14,150. Underneath the PMAC are both Men’s and Women’s basketball courts for practice as well as a really nice Museum. This area is «Restricted access», but I was invited to hear Men’s Basketball Coach Johnny Jones speak to the Tipoff Club prior to game #1 of the 2014 – 2015 season.
There’s memories of concerts and college graduation in this building, so it’s really cool to come back and see the facility has been updated and well-​cared for. Also, there’s a giant statue of Shaquille O’Neal who made this place vibrant during his LSU days.
Great place to re-​visit and fortunately LSU won the opener!

I went to an SEC basketball game at the PMAC on 2÷8÷2014. It was my first time there. there were two of us and the tickets cost $ 20 each while the parking was free (once we found where to park). in a battle of two teams called the tigers, the LSU Tigers defeated the Auburn Tigers by a score of 87 to 80. Chris Denson was the games leading scorer with 29 points in a losing effort for Auburn. Plus, I took photos. Bye the way — Geaux Tigers!

I am not a sports guy, as anyone who knows me can tell you, so my experience with the PMAc is a little different. Big Buddy holds their annual fundraiser «Dancing For Big Buddy» there. So, I have only seen it with a big stage and ready for a show.
From what I can tell, it makes a great sports arena, as it is well maintained, and has sports memorabilia on the upper-​level walk way. The bathrooms are easy to find, and there is lots of room. I would say that if you aren’t familiar with it, you can get lost, as I managed to do during my first Dancing for Big Buddy. It is also neat that it is right next to Mike the Tiger’s habitat.
If you want to put on a large-​scale event, this could be the place to do it (though my understanding is that it can be pricey).

The PMAC is the deal. A state of the art arena facility that can house just about any event LSU can throw at it but normally is home to the Basketball games. Also, it is a great tailgating spot (the ramp) on Football gamedays.

I had the opportunity to visit this arena in January of 2009 when the men’s basketball team took on 15^th ranked Xavier. I arrived early to be able to check out the sports facilities and was in shock and awe of the sheer immensity of the venues they have here. Tiger stadium was so huge, it was intimidating. I can actually say without a doubt that I have never been in a nosebleed seat at the top of any arena that came close to the upper upper deck of LSU’s Tiger Stadium. Unfortunately they don’t play football in January (pretty much the only month they don’t) and so I didn’t have a chance to go inside of this place, but I will try to make sure to have some «work» to do during one of LSU’s home games this fall.
The next thing I stumbled upon (no wait stumbled isn’t right because this was huge…) Okay the next thing I encountered was the habitat of their Tiger, Mike. Mike the Tiger was donated by an alumnus and so was his very large pen/​cage/​biome/​habitat that was complete with places for him to climb, a running waterfall running into a large pool for him, and large ball toys for him to play with. It was amazing!!! Never in my life would I think to see a wild animal on a college campus… and in great physical shape! It was as if they were going to start a zoo on campus. If the tiger’s pen is any indication, it would be a helluva zoo.
Finally the arena! Wow. Mini-​NBA doesn’t describe it well enough. This would be an NBA quality arena, however not many like this exist anymore — no luxury suites. I immediately was reminded of the Pacer’s old home, Market Square Arena, that was built about the same time. Like MSA, I walked up a long ramp and entered on the upper level and into the main hallway. And like MSA, I entered into the sitting area through section hallways and wound up in between the upper bowl and lower bowl in an interior walkway that went around the inside of the whole arena. The high priced and cheap tickets entered the same way and everyone walked through the same corridors to get to your seats. More expensive went down the steps, less expensive went up!
The price for T-​shirts was cheap — only $ 10 bucks for a decent quality screen print. Concessions were reasonable (think early 90’s prices — before the age of excess.) The crowd was rabid. The dancers were smokin! (Even better looking than NBA dancers.) Thank goodness I wasn’t a Xavier fan, but I prefer to see a school from the Midwest and kids from Indianapolis play well. Xavier did. They shot lights out in the second half (because they were wide open) and took young LSU out of their game plan (because they couldn’t figure out Xavier’s outstanding defense.)
All in all, I hope LSU’s academic facilities are 2^nd to none, because their athletic facilities show that the university spends big money on their Tigers. I would hope that the LSU classroom experience is just as awesome as their intercollegiate athletic experience.

The folks in Baton Rouge are privileged to have this mini NBA style arena to watch the LSU lady Tigers make another run for a Division I Title. Even during the Shaq and Glen «Big Baby» Davis era, this place was a packed house. I have been impressed with the center but not so impressed with the parking which can get pretty messy at times. The food here is surprisingly not as expensive as some other college arenas I’ve visited and the seats are reasonably comfortable. Some areas are a little too dark, but as long as the court is brightly lit, I suppose it doesn’t matter.
Its a shame Pete himself never had a chance to play here. I’d certainly pay money to see him dazzle Louisiana again.