HOOP FANS FLOCKING TO SEE RESURGENT VOLS

Jan. 26, 2006

It seems the good old days of Thompson-Boling Arena and Assembly Center have returned.

Saturday's crowd for the Southeastern Conference rematch between Tennessee and South Carolina is expected to climb back above the 20,000 range, making it the fourth gathering of that size or better to watch the Vols play this season.

With six home dates remaining, Tennessee has a chance at tying -- or exceeding -- the record of seven 20,000-plus crowds that helped christen the arena in the inaugural 1987-88 season.

"Thompson-Boling Arena was built for a reason," UT Athletics Director Mike Hamilton said. "The reason was a demand and a belief Tennessee basketball could draw those type crowds on a regular basis.

"I think as we achieve these kinds of crowds with the success we've had so far this season, there are very few programs in America that can match that atmosphere. Syracuse has 30,000, and there's Kentucky, North Carolina and Arkansas with 20,000-plus. But there are only a handful of schools that can average 20,000-plus for conference play and we have an opportunity to do that."

A combined 45,623 saw Tennessee win its first two conference home games and now UT is averaging 16,507 for nine overall home dates in 2005-06. That figure, if the season ended today, would rank fourth in the arena's 19-year history and would be the best since an average of 17,524 watched the 1989-90 squad.

"When I prepared to speak to Bruce Pearl in the interview process, the one thing I said to him -- and I really believed this -- was, 'Bruce, I feel like University of Tennessee men's basketball is ready to explode,'" Hamilton said. "It's just been a matter of having the right detonator."

Boom!

This year under Pearl, Tennessee is 9-0 at home and coming off an 80-76 victory last weekend over Florida witnessed by 24,011 -- the largest Knoxville crowd to see the Vols since 1991. Wins over East Tennessee State in November and Georgia earlier this month also topped the magical 20,000-plus barrier in the building that officially seats 24,535.

"Bruce has said time and time again publicly, as much as he feels his team is slightly ahead of schedule, the stuff that's happening in terms of fan support is way ahead of schedule," Hamilton said. "When you have a change in coaches, I don't think it's atypical to have an up-tick in attendance. Usually you have an intrigue factor, what's this going to be about.

"Our marketing initiatives this year were directed at getting the students back in the building and getting people to sample the product."

The Vols drew seven crowds of better than 20,000 way back in their first season in Thompson-Boling Arena and six the following campaign, when the Vols went a combined 26-7 at home those two years under head coach Don DeVoe.

Not surprisingly, those seasons marked the top two home attendance campaigns in UT basketball history, with a record average of 20,823 in 1987-88 and another 19,313 per game the following year.

The last time Tennessee drew at least three consecutive home crowds above 20,000 was when Vanderbilt, LSU, Auburn and Florida all visited Knoxville 18 years ago during the arena's debut season.

UT went 2-2 in those four games en route to a 16-13 finish and NIT berth. This year's squad currently leads the SEC Eastern Division with a 4-1 record in league play, 13-3 overall.

"I've always felt like if we put the kind of product on the floor that our fans deserve, and our fans love winners, then the fans would be there to see it happen," Hamilton said. "Only three programs in our league have won more than 600 games: Kentucky, Alabama and us. We have basketball tradition. We haven't had as much success lately but we have tradition.

"I think our fans appreciate good work ethic, they appreciate winning, and in this case, I think they appreciate that Bruce really has done a lot to reach out to the fans."

Since 1988-89, no season has seen more than three crowds of 20,000-plus pass through the Thompson-Boling Arena turnstiles. In fact before this year, Tennessee had drawn only two crowds of better than 20,000 this decade -- and those were on consecutive home dates against Florida and Kentucky in February 2000.

All told, Thompson-Boling Arena has seen 34 men's basketball games with crowds above the 20,000 mark. The largest was 25,610 on Jan. 21, 1990, for Kentucky's 66-65 win over the Vols.

"Every one of our sports competes for championships," Hamilton said. "The support is there. We just had to give them something to be supportive of in men's basketball.

"When it becomes the thing to do, which it has become in Knoxville, then that's when it really takes off."

Just like in the good old days.

Tennessee Volunteers' Crowds Above 20,000 at Thompson-Boling Arena

Date	Opponent	Result	Attend.	Opp. Ranking
1/21/89	Kentucky	L, 65-66	25,610
12/3/87	Marquette	W, 82-56	25,272
1/12/91	Kentucky	L, 74-78	25,125*	Ky. ranked No. 11
1/23/88	Florida	L, 56-76	24,433
2/17/88	Kentucky	W, 72-70	24,378*	Ky. ranked No. 9
1/21/06	Florida	W, 80-76	24,011*	Fla. ranked No. 2
11/25/91	ETSU	L, 79-87	23,969
1/9/88	Vanderbilt	W, 80-72	23,764
1/21/92	Kentucky	W, 107-85	23,156*	Ky. ranked No. 8
1/24/98	Kentucky	L, 67-85	23,146*	Ky. ranked No. 7
2/17/96	Kentucky	L, 50-90	23,115*	Ky. ranked No. 2
11/28/89	ETSU	L, 70-83	23,108
2/28/99	Kentucky	W, 68-61	23,106*	Ky. ranked No. 13
2/10/90	LSU	L, 113-119	22,843*	LSU ranked No. 11
1/13/88	LSU	L, 51-52	22,605
2/23/94	Kentucky	L, 73-77	22,548*	Ky. ranked No. 7
2/24/93	Kentucky	W, 78-77	22,457*	Ky. ranked No. 2
2/23/00	Kentucky	W, 74-67	22,449*	Ky. ranked No. 18
2/8/95	Kentucky	L, 48-68	22,317*	Ky. ranked No. 6
2/21/90	Kentucky	W, 102-100	22,244
1/11/89	LSU	W, 100-96	22,144
2/12/00	Florida	W, 76-73 (OT)	22,141*	Fla. ranked No. 12
2/21/98	Vanderbilt	W, 90-76	22,111
12/29/88	Memphis	W, 76-74	22,015
2/27/88	Mississippi State	W, 64-62	21,717
1/11/06	Georgia	W, 89-76	21,612
3/4/89	Vanderbilt	W, 78-61	21,546
11/18/05	ETSU	W, 106-83	21,280
2/5/92	Arkansas	W, 83-81	21,237*	Ark. ranked No. 5
12/3/88	UT-Chattanooga	W, 91-76	20,635
1/20/88	Auburn	W, 75-64	20,390
11/25/88	Tennessee Tech	W, 118-86	20,386
1/30/99	Alabama	W, 100-64	20,358
2/25/97	Kentucky	L, 64-74	20,241*	Ky. ranked No. 3
		22-12 (.647)

Versus ranked teams: 8-7
Versus SEC: 17-10
Versus non-conference: 5-2
2005-06 games in bold.

Through Florida game 1/21/06

University of Tennessee Athletics

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