Sawyer Center

Last updated
Sawyer Center
Sawyer Center
LocationSouthern Nazarene University, Bethany, OK 73008
Coordinates 35°30′43″N97°37′33″W / 35.511981°N 97.62594°W / 35.511981; -97.62594
OwnerSouthern Nazarene University
Capacity 5,000
OpenedFebruary 11, 1999
Tenants
Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm

The Sawyer Center, named for Carl Brannon Sawyer, [1] is the main athletic facility for Southern Nazarene University (SNU) and seats over 5,000. It is used for basketball and volleyball games played by the Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm. In addition to sporting events, the Sawyer Center also hosts all commencement, the New Student Institute for welcome week activities, and high school tournaments.

Contents

History

The first event held in the Sawyer Center was SNU's annual Excel Auction on February 11, 1998. The first sporting event was one week later, when the men's and women's basketball teams took on their cross-town rivals from Oklahoma City University. The Crimson Storm defeated both teams.

From 2001 to 2008, the Sawyer Center was home to the championship games of the National Christian Homeschool Basketball Championships. Every year the event was held there, the Sawyer Center held capacity crowds. In the last 2 years of the tournament, people were being turned away because of firecodes.

Due to the catastrophic devastation brought by Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans Hornets franchise temporarily relocated their base of operations to Oklahoma City for two seasons in 2005–06 and 2006–07. During this time, the franchise was known as the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. In these two seasons, the vast majority of home games were played at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, while a few remained at New Orleans Arena. During the New Orleans Hornets temporary relocation to Oklahoma City, the Sawyer Center was the official practice facility for the Oklahoma City/New Orleans Hornets. [2]

The Sawyer Center will also serve as the temporary practice facility for the new Oklahoma City Thunder basketball team, until a permanent facility is built. [3] [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Orleans Pelicans</span> National Basketball Association team in New Orleans, Louisiana

The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division and play their home games at the Smoothie King Center. Since 2014, the NBA officially considers New Orleans as an expansion team that began play in the 2002–03 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paycom Center</span> Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.

Paycom Center is an arena located in Downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States. It opened in 2002 and since 2008 has served as the home venue for the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s Oklahoma City Thunder. Previously, the arena was home to the Oklahoma City Blazers of the Central Hockey League (CHL) from 2002 until the team folded in July 2009, and the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz of AF2 from 2004 to 2009 when the team moved to the Prairie Surf Studios. In addition to its use as a sports venue, Paycom Center hosts concerts, family and social events, conventions, ice shows, and civic events. The arena is owned by the city and operated by the SMG property management company and has 18,203 seats in the basketball configuration, 15,152 for hockey, and can seat up to 16,591 for concerts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Nazarene University</span> Christian liberal arts college in Oklahoma, U.S.

Southern Nazarene University (SNU) is a private Nazarene university in Bethany, Oklahoma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oklahoma City Blue</span> American minor league basketball team of the NBA G League

The Oklahoma City Blue are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City and are affiliated with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Blue compete in the NBA G League as members of the Western Conference. The Blue play their home games at Paycom Center, an arena shared with the Thunder.

The 2005–06 NBA season was the 60th season of the National Basketball Association. The Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals, four games to two to win their first NBA championship.

The Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm are the athletic teams that represent Southern Nazarene University, located in Bethany, Oklahoma, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division II ranks, primarily competing in the Great American Conference (GAC) since the 2012–13 academic year. The Crimson Storm previously competed in the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1978–79 to 2011–12; and in the Texoma Athletic Conference from 1972–73 to 1977–78.

Clayton Ike Bennett is an American businessman and chairman of the Professional Basketball Club LLC, the ownership group of the Oklahoma City Thunder, an NBA franchise formerly known as the Seattle SuperSonics. Bennett is the chairman of Oklahoma City-based Dorchester Capital Corporation, as well as the chairman emeritus of the board of directors of the Oklahoma Heritage Association and served as chairman of the Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma from 2011–2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oklahoma City Thunder</span> National Basketball Association team in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays its home games at Paycom Center.

The Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm volleyball team represents the Southern Nazarene University Great American Conference in Division II volleyball. Since 1991, the team has competed in the Sooner Athletic Conference. Home games are played at Sawyer Center, which seats about 5,000 total, but for is typically arrange for 500.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Effect of Hurricane Katrina on the New Orleans Hornets</span> Aftermath of hurricane in New Orleans Hornets

Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans on August 29, 2005, and caused extensive damage to the New Orleans Arena. As a result, the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s New Orleans Hornets were unable to play any home games at the Arena for both the entire 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons, and temporarily relocated to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to become the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. After playing the majority of home games for both the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, the Hornets returned to New Orleans for the 2007–08 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Conference (NBA)</span> Conference of the National Basketball Association

The Western Conference is one of two conferences that make up the National Basketball Association (NBA), the other being the Eastern Conference. Both conferences consist of 15 teams organized into three divisions.

The 2006–07 New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets season was the team's 5th in the NBA. The Hornets split their games between the New Orleans Arena and the Ford Center, playing the majority of their schedule in Oklahoma City as they had in the previous season. The Hornets improved by one win, finishing 39–43, but failed to reach the playoffs.

The New Orleans Pelicans are a professional basketball team in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team commenced play in 2002 after the NBA granted founder George Shinn an expansion franchise to play in New Orleans. The Pelicans' establishment was unusual compared to most modern expansion teams in that New Orleans' roster was not stocked through an expansion draft. Instead, Shinn transferred the entire basketball organization of his former team, the Charlotte Hornets, to his new franchise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darius Miller</span> American basketball player

Darius Tiyon Miller is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats and finished his senior season by winning the 2012 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament on the 2011–12 Kentucky Wildcats team.

The following is a timeline of the expansion and evolution of franchises in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league was formed as the Basketball Association of America (BAA) in 1946 and took its current name in 1949. The histories of NBA franchises that were also members of the American Basketball League (ABL), National Basketball League (NBL), National Pro Basketball League (NPBL), and American Basketball Association (ABA) are also included.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sports in Oklahoma City</span>

Oklahoma City is home to several professional sports teams, including the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Thunder is the city's second "permanent" major professional sports franchise after the now-defunct AFL Oklahoma Wranglers and is the third major-league team to call the city home when considering the temporary hosting of the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets for the 2005–06 and 2006–07 NBA seasons.

The Oklahoma City Thunder is an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It was established in 2008 when the Sonics left Seattle.

The expansion of the National Basketball Association has happened several times in the league's history since it began play in 1946. The most recent examples of the expansion of the NBA are the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat in 1988, Minnesota Timberwolves and Orlando Magic in 1989, Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies in 1995, and New Orleans Hornets in 2002. In June 2022, Commissioner Adam Silver confirmed that while there are no current plans to expand beyond 30 teams, the NBA "invariably will expand."

References


Bresee sm.jpg

This article related to the Church of the Nazarene is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.