Front of Jenison Fieldhouse.
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Back of Jenison Fieldhouse.
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Jenison Fieldhouse
This classic fieldhouse was a 10,004 seat, later reduced to 6,000 seat multi-purpose,
arena in East Lansing, Michigan. The arena opened in 1940 and was named for
alumnus Frederick Cowles Jenison, whose estate, along with PWAP funds, funded the
building. It was home to the Michigan State University Spartans basketball team before
they moved to Breslin Center in the fall of 1989.
The venue is most famous for its 1978-1979 National Championship Basketball team,
which included Earvin "Magic" Johnson, and was coached by Jud Heathcote. It also
hosted the 1963 NCAA basketball tournament Mideast Regionals. The three-story
building's architecture is late art deco, with a monumental entrance that includes three
reliefs of a baseball player, basketball player, and football player above the three main
doors.
Jenison Fieldhouse is currently where the women's volleyball, wrestling, and indoor
track and field teams compete.
The 1979 Championship Team
Jenison Fieldhouse was home to the 1979 NCAA
National Champions.
Michigan State, coached by Jud Heathcote, won the
national title with a 75-64 victory in the final game
over Indiana State, coached by Bill Hodges. Magic
Johnson of Michigan State was named the
tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
The final game marked the beginning of the rivalry
between future Hall of Famers Johnson and Larry
Bird. To this day, it remains the highest-rated game in
the history of televised college basketball. Both Magic
and Bird would enter the NBA in the fall of 1979, and
the rivalry between them and their teams
(respectively, the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston
Celtics) was a major factor in the league's
renaissance in the 1980s and 1990s. The game also
led to the "modern era" of college basketball, as it
introduced a nationwide audience to a sport that was
once relegated to second-class status in the sports
world.
The game remains one of the greatest ever. It took
place in Salt Lake City, Utah on March 26, 1979.
Without this championship, the wheels may have
never begun for building the Breslin Center.
