Mabee Center is a 10,094-seat multi-purpose arena , located on the campus of Oral Roberts University , in Tulsa, Oklahoma , United States. The building opened in 1972 and was designed by architect Frank Wallace, who designed most of the buildings on the ORU campus. It carries the name of Tulsa oilman John Mabee, whose foundation donated $ 1 million toward its construction.
16-467: The facility received several upgrades in 2021 including: new arena seats, exterior blue paint, blue glass panels, a new sound system, all new LED house lights, concourse level remodeling, digital screens, wifi, and new suites. An adjacent building, smaller but similar in shape, is known as the "Global Learning Center". Since it opened in 1972, the Mabee Center has hosted some of the biggest entertainers in
32-523: Is John Gallagher, who was hired from the University of Hartford in March of 2023. The Jaspers have appeared in eight NCAA Tournaments . Their combined record is 3–9. The Jaspers have appeared in 18 National Invitation Tournaments (NIT). Their combined record is 8–19. The Jaspers have appeared in one CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). Their combined record is 1–1. The Jaspers have appeared in
48-679: Is mostly played at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri . It has been held in Kansas City every year since the tournament began except from 1994 to 2001, when it was played in Tulsa, Oklahoma , and in 2020, when no tournament was held. Kansas City will continue to host until at least 2024. In 2018, the NAIA announced a new format for the 2021 tournament after the merger of D-I and D-II. Under
64-592: Is the only other school to do so ( 1970 , 1971 , 1972 ). Oklahoma City holds the record for the most tournament championships with six. OCU also holds the record for most national championship titles in NAIA women's basketball . Manhattan Jaspers men%27s basketball The Manhattan Jaspers men's basketball team is the basketball team that represents Manhattan University in The Bronx , New York City , New York , United States. The school's team currently competes in
80-646: The BOK Center was built. Mabee Center was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2013. This article about a sports venue in Oklahoma is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . NAIA national men%27s basketball championship The NAIA men's basketball national championship has been held annually by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics since 1937 to determine
96-679: The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference . They have won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament championship five times (1993, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2015). The Jaspers have had three players named Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Year, most recently Luis Flores in 2003. Luis Flores is also the Manhattan Jaspers all-time leading scorer with 2046 points from 2001-2004. Their current head coach
112-580: The NAIA Tournament once. Their combined record is 2–1. Source The Jaspers' main rivals are the Iona Gaels . This rivalry started in December of 1946, which Manhattan won 69-62. Iona leads the all-time series 61-43 as of October 2023. They also enjoy a strong rivalry with the cross-borough Fordham Rams , whom they first played in the 1911–1912 season and annually since the 1922–1923 season. Although
128-477: The NAIA tournaments featured 32 teams with the entire events contested at one location in one week (rather than multiple locations over a series of weekends). After the 2020 tournaments were cancelled, however, they were merged back into a single tournament, which initially featured 48 teams in 2021 before expanding to 64 teams in 2022. All tournament games can be watched online through the official NAIA provider StretchInternet . The Men's Basketball Championship
144-552: The industry along with the NAIA national men's basketball championship (1994–1998), five NCAA men's first-round or regional tournaments (1974, 1975, 1978, 1982, 1985) and the Midwestern City Conference (now Horizon League) men's basketball conference tournaments (1982, 1985). It is home to the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles men's and women's basketball teams and was Eastern Oklahoma's largest arena until
160-483: The media attention surrounding the Manhatten Jaspers . Manhattan, who had an all-white team, learned of the NAIA rule that prohibited blacks from participating in the tournament, and after asking the NAIA to rescind the rule, the NAIA refused and Manhattan withdrew from the tournament. "The battle might have ended there but for a man named Harry Henshel, who was a member of the U.S. Olympic basketball committee. One of
176-522: The media that the NAIA national champion be eliminated from Olympic consideration. NAIA officials read Hershel’s statement in the papers and quickly took a telegraphic poll amongst its members the following day that rescinded the racial ban. In 1947 , Coach John Wooden of Indiana State refused the invitation to the NAIA National Tournament primarily because Clarence J. Walker , the only black player on his team could not participate. Because of
SECTION 10
#1732887072848192-580: The national champion of men's college basketball among its members in the United States and Canada . The tournament was established by James Naismith to crown a national champion for smaller colleges and universities and has been held every year since, with the exceptions of 1944 (due to World War II ) and 2020 (due to the COVID-19 pandemic ). Since 2022, the tournament has featured 64 teams, with teams beginning play at one of sixteen regional sites with
208-572: The new format, the men's and women's tournaments each involve 64 teams (the first post-COVID tournaments in 2021 had 48 teams). The first two rounds are played at 16 separate sites, with only the 16 winners at these sites advancing to Kansas City. The tournament MVP has been presented with the Chuck Taylor Most Valuable Player award since 1939 . In 1948 , the NAIA became the first national organization to open their intercollegiate postseason to black student-athletes due primarily to
224-729: The reasons that the NAIA tournament was so prestigious was that the champion was invited to compete at the Olympic trials in New York City in late March. (The other teams invited were the two NCAA finalists, three teams from the Amateur Athletic Union, the winner of the National Invitation Tournament, and a YMCA team.)" After reading in the New York papers that blacks could not participate in the tournament, Henshel suggested to
240-527: The stance taken by Manhattan and Harry Hansel, in 1948, Coach Wooden was able to take Walker to the tournament who became the first African-American student-athlete to play in the NAIA tournament. Walker, a vital role player, helped the Sycamores finish as the NAIA's national finalist. In 1957, Tennessee State became the first historically black college to win a national championship, and the first team to win three consecutive tournaments. As of 2017, Kentucky State
256-588: The winners of those regionals playing at the final venue. From 1992 to 2020, the NAIA sponsored two championships, one for its Division I members and another for those in its Division II . The Division I tournament was played in Kansas City, Missouri while the Division II tournament moved locations several times (it finished, in 2020, at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota ). During this time,
#847152