2012-13 Men's Basketball - Ohio Wesleyan University

HOME OF THE BISHOPS
The Battling Bishop men's and women's basketball teams
play their home games in Branch Rickey Arena, nestled in the
middle of the Ohio Wesleyan campus.
Named after Branch Rickey '04, who integrated major league
baseball while president and general manager of the Brooklyn
Dodgers, the arena opened its doors in time for the 1976-77 basketball
season. It seats 2300 for basketball and has been the site
for NCAA Division III playoff games for both genders as well as
several North Coast Athletic Conference and Ohio Athletic Conference
tournaments. Rickey Arena also serves as home of the
Bishop volleyball team. The arena is part of the Rickey Center,
which also includes the adjacent Gordon Field House.
Branch Rickey Arena Selby Stadium
ATHLETIC FACILITIES
The crown jewel of Ohio Wesleyan’s athletic facilities is
Selby Stadium, which is the home of the football, field hockey,
track & field, and men’s and women’s lacrosse contingents.
Selby Stadium received an OmniGrass artificial playing
surface for the 2006-07 academic year, lights for the 2010-11 academic
year, and a video scoreboard in the spring of 2011, making
the venue one of the most impressive among NCAA Division
III institutions. Constructed in 1929, Selby also has received a
new, fully-enclosed 2-level press box, new bleacher seats, and
refurbished locker rooms in recent years. The facility, which
seats 9100 and is the fourth-largest college-owned field in NCAA
Division III, was the site of the 1988 Division III men’s lacrosse
championship game.
Selby also houses the George Gauthier Track, an Ameritan
FP surface installed for the 2006-07 academic year. The site
of 19 of the first 28 North Coast Athletic Conference outdoor
track & field championships, Selby is believed to be the oldest
facility in the nation constructed to Olympic specifications and
remaining in its original configuration. Selby Stadium and the
Gauthier Track hosted the NCAA Division III outdoor track &
field championships in 2011.
Across campus, Roy Rike Field hosts soccer, primarily
under the lights. Widely regarded as one of the Midwest’s finest
facilities for the sport, Roy Rike Field was the site of the NCAA
Division III semifinals and championship game for men in 1990
and 1998 and for women in 2001.
The centerpiece of Ohio Wesleyan’s athletic facilities is
the Branch Rickey Physical Education Center, prized for both
its size and versatility. The Richard Gordon Field House floor
was resurfaced in November 2008, and the track was refinished
For 70 years prior to Rickey Arena, Ohio Wesleyan home
games were played in adjoining Edwards Gym. Opened during
the 1905-06 academic year, the still-unfinished facility hosted
Ohio Wesleyan's first intercollegiate basketball team. As many
as 3000 fans crammed their way into the double-decked court
on the building's second floor, which still hosts varsity practices
and intramurals. The gym was named after John Edwards,
who served on the Board of Trustees in the late 1890s and early
1900s. One of the biggest facilities in the state at the time of its
construction, Edwards was one of the first sites for the Ohio high
school basketball tournament championships, which it hosted
into the 1930s.
with a state-of-the-art encapsulated surface in December 2008.
Gordon Field House hosted the first 9 NCAC indoor track & field
championships. Indoor practice for fall and spring sports can be
handled there as well: floor space is larger than a football field,
accommodating 4 courts for tennis, basketball and volleyball.
Branch Rickey Arena, seating 2300, hosts varsity basketball
and volleyball contests. Also in the Center are 5 handball/
racquetball courts, a squash court, offices, locker rooms and
lounges.
Offices and locker rooms also are part of Edwards Gymnasium,
which is connected by tunnel to the Rickey Center. Remodeling
in Edwards has recently included an expanded strength
facility.
The men’s and women’s swimming teams compete in the
Meek Aquatics and Recreation Center, a 10-lane, geothermally
heated facility that opened in October 2010.
Softball is played at Margaret Sagan Field, which opened
during the 2008 season. Baseball is played at Littick Field, site of
the 2003 NCAA Division III Mideast Regional. Tennis is played
at the Luttinger Family Tennis Center, a complex of 6 outdoor
courts that opened in the fall of 2011, and 6 outdoor courts
across the street where the 1978 NCAA Division III championships
were held.
The cross country teams run at nearby Methodist Theological
School and Delaware Golf Club, which hosted the NCAA
Division III men’s and women’s championships in 1984 and 2005
and for many years was the site of the All-Ohio Intercollegiate
championship meet. The golf team also hosted the 2003 NCAA
Division III championships at the Delaware Golf Club.