- Murphy Center
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Monte Hale Arena Murphy Center 
Murphy Center during a game in November 2008Location Middle Tennessee Blvd,
Murfreesboro, TN 37132Coordinates 35°51′8.8775″N 86°22′11.2872″W / 35.852465972°N 86.369802°WCoordinates: 35°51′8.8775″N 86°22′11.2872″W / 35.852465972°N 86.369802°W Opened December 11, 1972 Owner Middle Tennessee State University Operator Middle Tennessee State University Surface Hardwood Capacity 11,802 Tenants Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (NCAA) (1972–present) Charles M. Murphy Athletic Center (Murphy Center for short) is the name of the main athletic department building at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, United States. The building was built in 1973 and named in honor of Charles M. "Bubber" Murphy, a standout athlete at the college in the 1930s and later the school's football coach from 1947 to 1967. The building houses most of the university's athletics offices, some classroom space, athletic practice facilities and weight rooms, racquetball courts and, most notably, the 11,802-seat multi-purpose Monte Hale Arena.
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Hale Arena
Monte Hale Arena is home to the MTSU Blue Raiders basketball teams. Hale Arena features a bowl of permanent box seats around the basketball floor and eighteen sections of collapsible bleachers on the concourse above the bowl. While the arena was named in honor of local sportswriter Monte Hale, it is often simply referred to as "Murphy Center". It has hosted the Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament three times: 1975, 1985 and 1987; and hosted the Sun Belt Conference men's and women's basketball tournaments in 2006. Hale Arena is also home to the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association's (TSSAA) boys and girls Division I state high school basketball and volleyball championships. MTSU's graduation ceremonies are held in the arena as well.
Indoor Track and Field
The upper concourse of the arena also serves as an indoor track and field facility for the University's historically well-regarded athletics programs. Murphy Center has been home to 23 total Ohio Valley and Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championships. It is also scheduled to host the 2012 SBC Championship next February.
Murphy Center is also famous for the creation of NCAA Indoor Last Chance Meets. In 1976, MTSU head coach track and field coach Dean Hayes got together with several other coaches looking for one final opportunity for their athletes to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships. The coaches held a meet at Murphy Center the week before the nationals, that would later go on to be known as NCAA Last Chance Meets.
Today, there are at least six Last Chance Meets around the nation including; Ames, Iowa (Iowa State), South Bend, Ind. (Notre Dame), Blacksburg, Va. (Virginia Tech), Lincoln, Neb. (Nebraska), Fayetteville, Ark. (Arkansas), and Gainesville, Fla. (Florida).
Music venue
From its opening, the arena was the Nashville area's premier indoor concert venue, but since the opening of Bridgestone Arena in 1996, however, it has rarely hosted concerts.
References
- Murphy Center information at GoBlueRaiders.com
External links
Basketball arenas of the Sun Belt Conference Cajundome (Louisiana-Lafayette men) • Convocation Center (Arkansas State) • E.A. Diddle Arena (Western Kentucky) • Earl K. Long Gymnasium (Louisiana–Lafayette women) • Fant-Ewing Coliseum (Louisiana–Monroe) • FAU Arena (Florida Atlantic) • FIU Arena (FIU) • Jack Stephens Center (Arkansas–Little Rock) • Magness Arena (Denver) • Mitchell Center (South Alabama) • Murphy Center (Middle Tennessee) • Trojan Arena (Troy) • UNT Coliseum (North Texas)
Categories:- Middle Tennessee State University
- College basketball venues in the United States
- Basketball venues in Tennessee
- Buildings and structures completed in 1973
- Buildings and structures in Rutherford County, Tennessee
- Tennessee building and structure stubs
- Southern United States sports venue stubs
- Sports venues in Tennessee
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