Bball gym!

[greenminer]

Saw this tweet and feel inspired to ask y'all: tell me your favorite stories from the Super Pit or the old Snake Pit.
 

 

[greenminer]

https://meangreensports.com/facilities/bahnsen-gym-a-k-a-the-snake-pit/28

[greenminer]

https://meangreensports.com/facilities/the-super-pit/5

[UNTLifer]

The Snake Pit:  I remember going to the games as a young kid.  I just remember the noise and leaving there with my ears hurting.  Loved every minute of it.

The Super Pit: Opened when I was 7 years old.  My fondest memories are the Blakely years and watching us play then #1 DePaul with Mark Aguirre and company, as well as the sellout vs. UT, etc...

[Eagle71]

It was packed every game. It didn't matter what was happening in class the next day...you went to the game!  Joe Hamilton...Crest Whitaker...Lee Wifield...Wendall Hart! Dang those were good times at NTSU!

[NorthTexasSportsNetwork]

I forgot to post about it, but at the Season ticket pickup event in August, McCasland mentioned him wanting to play a game in the Snake Pit. Said it would be a good experience, but it seems Wren wasn't that ecstatic about that idea lol

I personally would LOVE that idea, but do it against a bad team 

[greeneagle1]

https://northtexan.unt.edu/archives/winter2008/timetracks-snakepit-photos.htm

 

[Felozano]

Is this where they play/played Intramurals?  I was a student from 01-05.  I didn't realize it was where the team used to play.  Pretty cool.  Wish I knew that at the time.

[UNTLifer]

2 hours ago, greeneagle1 said:

https://northtexan.unt.edu/archives/winter2008/timetracks-snakepit-photos.htm

 

Too bad that pulled out the retractable bleachers from the lower level.

[wardly]

I was at NTSU from 1961 to 1966, and saw one of the best Eagle players ever, John Savage. During a home game against SMU one of the Mustangs had a break-a-way down the sidelines when a North Texas fan extended his leg tripping the player who fell face down on the hardwood. As you know, The PITT was a gymnasium , and when the bottom bleachers were pulled out the fans were literally sitting on the sideline. I have really enjoyed North Texas basketball, flew with the team to Utah in 1988 for our sub regional against North Carolina, but I treasure those days in the PITT. The gym was packed, you couldn't hear a thing,but man you saw Cincinnati, Drake, Bradly, Wichita, Louisville, and the rest of the Missouri Valley Conference.

[bstnsportsfan3]

I remember watching us play Cameron in 2008 or 2009 at the old snake pit. 

[DeepGreen]

A Snake Pit thread appears every year from some of us who experienced that great “battlefield for NT basketball”.  And it truly was.  Coming out of a small Catholic HS that couldn’t afford a basketball team I was truly lost when I attended my first NT game as a Freshman.  Many of the guys I met that year came from parts of the country where basketball was king.  Midwest states and up East.  NT recruited those parts of the country, as did most members of the Missouri Valley Conference. Saw many of the star players mentioned by others, plus Rubin “the Rube” Russell, Creston Whitaker, and so many other greats.   The Snake Pit was a great experience for this fan!

[GrandGreen]

5 hours ago, bstnsportsfan3 said:

I remember watching us play Cameron in 2008 or 2009 at the old snake pit. 

I was there, but for some reasons those bleachers felt a lot harder than they did about 40 years ago.  

[Greenrex]

13 hours ago, wardly said:

I was at NTSU from 1961 to 1966, and saw one of the best Eagle players ever, John Savage. During a home game against SMU one of the Mustangs had a break-a-way down the sidelines when a North Texas fan extended his leg tripping the player who fell face down on the hardwood. As you know, The PITT was a gymnasium , and when the bottom bleachers were pulled out the fans were literally sitting on the sideline. I have really enjoyed North Texas basketball, flew with the team to Utah in 1988 for our sub regional against North Carolina, but I treasure those days in the PITT. The gym was packed, you couldn't hear a thing,but man you saw Cincinnati, Drake, Bradly, Wichita, Louisville, and the rest of the Missouri Valley Conference.

I also was at NTSU during those same years and attended those games and I agree that John Savage was was one of the best to ever play for North Texas. I often would see him at the Union Building and we'd occasionally have a conversation. A few years later, somewhere around 1973 or '74  I saw him at the airport in Philadelphia PA and introduced myself and we had a nice conversation. I believe he said that he was playing for a Canadian team at the time...he seemed to be happy to be recognized and said that he remembered me but, I think he was just being polite.
Lord I loved those games at the Snake Pit.

[Matt from A700]

Since my student-hood began a short time ago in 2014, the CBI tournament run was by far my favorite experience. Had never seen that many people inside the Pit for an athletic event.

[PlummMeanGreen]

My first UNT basketball game was the night the Super Pit had its grand opening.  Gene Robbins was the Mean Green basketball coach.
Many in the Southwest TV & radio media called it the best campus venue in 4 states.  

Baylor Bears radio broadcaster Frank Fallon   praised UNT SID Fred Graham for what he perceived was FG’s  influence in creating the press row section. 

Then UNT had 3 or 4 NCAA Midwest Regionals scheduled at the Super Pit which was quite the prestigious thing of that era. Those have since moved to much larger venues. 
 

Being at the 1977(?) SMU vs UNT game before a SRO crowd of 10,700 was very exciting.  It has never been that crowded since & that night ended with a Mean Green win over the Mustangs. 

••• UNT guard Pat Hicks mid-court swisher vs Abe Lemon’s Texas Longhorns was an all time crowd pleaser, too. UNT would win that game.