Step 3: Play at Rec Hall for now
Frankly, a good basketball atmosphere just isn’t there at the Bryce Jordan Center yet. When Penn State played Ohio State at home last season, a solid opponent that PSU ended up sweeping 3-0 on the year, everyone saw the potential of what kind of an atmosphere Penn State could put together when the school really wanted to. The problem is, that doesn’t happen often enough. For games against lesser opponents, they crowd is nothing like that.
As a result, Penn State ends up losing close games to teams they should beat due to a lack of home-court advantage. As mentioned earlier, Penn State has lost pretty much every Big Ten game by less than 10 points other than three. One could say, in addition to better coaching and making free throws consistently, that a good atmosphere could’ve made the difference.
What is the solution? Playing in an arena where a good atmosphere is much more sustainable. Rec Hall, the former home of Penn State basketball and other Nittany Lions sports, was actually utilized for by the basketball program in its “Return to the Rec” game vs Princeton a few years back. A simple google search of that occasion yields great pictures, including this one courtesy of the Daily Collegian, of a great white-out atmosphere.
Rec Hall is a much smaller arena, which is perfect for the current state of Penn State basketball. The Bryce Jordan Center is more of a multi-purpose, high capacity arena that is ideal for concerts, rallies, and such. Using that facility for basketball, at this point in time, leaves many open seats. On top of that, an arena of that size is much harder to make loud. Ultimately, the smaller Rec Hall felt louder than most games at the BJC and it would fill up on more occasions than not.
Once the program starts winning as a result of a new coach and a better atmosphere that yields wins against teams they should beat, then perhaps the program could relocate to the BJC. After all, it’s well known to Penn State fans how the wrestling program makes that arena rock.
Taking that into account, along with the OSU home game last year, there is clearly potential for that kind of atmosphere at the Bryce-Jordan Center. It just isn’t sustainable for where the program is right now.