Oklahoma basketball: Upgrades are nice, but what hoops program really needs is new arena

Earlier this week, the OU Board of Regents approved $9.5 million in improvements for the Lloyd Noble Center, the home for Sooners basketball and other sporting activities and special events.

The LNC was opened in 1975 and has undergone several renovations over the years. The facility seats close to 11,000. It is not the oldest basketball venue in the Big 12 — actually in the middle in terms of oldest and newest — but it is one of the smallest in terms of seating capacity. There also is only one seating level, while most of the others in the Big 12 and also in the SEC are multi-level and considered better fan environments.

Renovation of the locker room areas is the biggest part of the planned improvements at the LNC. For several years there has been a push for construction of a new basketball arena, and head coach Porter Moser has been an advocate for a new facility since arriving at OU two years ago.

"“I think everyone knows the commitment needs to be toward having a new venue — a new venue towards men’s basketball,” Moser told reporters this past week.You look at some of the team’s venues and atmospheres in this league, and it becomes very hard to play in. From everything I’ve heard, everything is about moving in that direction. So, I love that. I love that the focus is on the venue.”"

Late last year, a survey was conducted by the university and the city of Norman to evaluate what kind of support and need there was for a prospective new basketball arena. Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione said this week that results of the survey are currently being compiled along with a feasibility study for an arena and entertainment district in the University North Park area just east of I-35 and north of Rock Creek Road in Norman.

Castiglione also disclosed that an architect has been commissioned to study how the Lloyd Noble Center can be “reimagined and rebuilt to serve our programs. I guess you could call it a simultaneous effort — not waiting on one to do the other but having both going on at the same time,” he said.

Moser has been trying to build up the student attendance at basketball games since he arrived on the scene in the spring of 2021. Located approximately a mile south of the football stadium, the LNC isn’t especially convenient to daily campus life, and that gets further compounded during the cold and winter weather conditions during basketball season.

Winning is a prime catalyst for greater fan attendance, and attendance at OU men’s games is a perfect reflection of that. Oklahoma finished next to last in the Big 12 this season and for the past several seasons in attendance for men’s games with an average crowd size of just over 7,100 per game. Only TCU, with a much smaller arena than OU’s had a lower attendance number than the Sooners.

A losing season (15-17) and last-place finish in the Big 12 is not much of an incentive to build fan attendance, although Oklahoma packed over 13,000 in the house for the Alabama game this season, and the Sooners responded with a surprising 25-point upset win over the nation’s then No. 2-ranked team. Moser has acknowledged the big role the home fans played in lifting the spirt and performance of the team and helping contribute to that monumental win.

After next season, Oklahoma will be moving to the SEC, a conference known more for its football powerhouses than its basketball, but a conference that still has some big arenas and a lot of fan interest in basketball. Nine of the SEC basketball venues are larger in seating capacity than the Lloyd Noble Center.

Until there is an ultimate decision on where the Sooners will be playing basketball long term, Moser is comfortable with where things stand currently.

"“I’m not ready to say which, where, when or anything,” Moser said. “Let’s just move in that direction.”"