University of North Texas Athletics
Welcome Back To The Pit - A Look At NTs Former Home
10/31/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The home of Mean Green basketball from 1950-73, It lacked all forms of niceties, and the thousands that packed it to the rafters were practically in the laps of the players that ran the floor just feet away.
“Welcome to the Pit, welcome to the Pit, welcome to the Pit,” the crowd would chant to “add delirium to defeat,” as Fred Graham so eloquently put it in his North Texan article that ran in the March 1971 issue. The following quotes also appeared in that story. They will give you a brief insight into what a few of the coaches that came to know the Snake Pit thought of the frenzy inside it.
“This is not only the worst place to play; these are the world’s worst fans.” Maury John, former Drake coach.
“I’ve never been in the eye of a hurricane, but it must be like this.” Dan Spika, former
“That’s about what I expected, really. I told our sophomores over and over how it would be, but you can’t believe it until you’ve been through it. We’ve got great fans too, but I wish our students had this much enthusiasm.” John Dromo, former
It doesn’t look like much from the outside, covered in the shadow of its big brother, the Super Pit, which resides across
Pack a couple of thousand people into the Snake Pit and funny things happen. “The small pep band sounds like a marching band and the 4,000 fans sound like 40,000,” Graham wrote in 1971. “The noise is almost constant, always thunderous ... and the crowd becomes an extension of the game itself.”
On Nov. 14, just two weeks from today,
The Mean Green brings back a pair of Pre-Season All-Sun Belt players in Josh White and Collin Dennis, and one of the best incoming classes in recent history. The troops have been battling with each other for two weeks now, and they can’t wait to tip off against the Aggies on Nov. 14.
Due to the size constraints of the facility, tickets will be limited. For tickets or information, contact the
