John Paul Jones Arena

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John Paul Jones Arena
250px
Location 295 Massie Road
Charlottesville, VA 22903
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Owner University of Virginia
Operator SMG
Capacity 14,593 (basketball)
Record attendance 15,219[1]
(11/12/06 vs. Arizona)
Construction
Broke ground May 30, 2003
Opened August 1, 2006
Construction cost $131 million
($169 million in 2024 dollars[2])
Architect VMDO Architects
Structural engineer Ellerbe Becket[3]
General contractor Barton Malow
Tenants
Virginia Cavaliers
(Men's & Women's Basketball)

John Paul Jones Arena, or JPJ, is an arena owned by the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia.[4] Since its opening in 2006, it has served as the home to the Virginia Cavaliers men's and women's basketball teams, as well as for concerts and other events. With seating for 14,593 fans (nearly twice the capacity of its predecessor, University Hall), John Paul Jones Arena is the largest indoor arena in Virginia. The arena opened for basketball on November 12, 2006, with Virginia defeating #10 ranked Arizona 93-90, handing the Wildcats their first season-opening loss in over six years.[5]

JPJ is known as one of the best basketball venues in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino said on the eve of his first game there in 2015 that he'd heard Virginia has "one of the best arenas in the ACC" and he was "looking forward to seeing it."[6] After his first visit, a five-point victory for #3 Virginia against #9 Louisville, Pitino lamented that at JPJ the UVA crowd is "on top of you."[7] Pitino would later add, "I used to think that Kansas had one of the best home-court advantages I’d ever seen. [But at UVA] they all stand up with 10 seconds to go [on the shot clock], cheering their team on defensively. I have not seen that in my 40 years of college basketball.”[8][9]

History

The design features Roman pergolas on the outside as well as the inside, a modern take on the university's Greek-inspired Jeffersonian architecture.

The arena is not named for the famous Admiral John Paul Jones as is often assumed, but is actually named in honor of Greenwich, Connecticut billionaire Paul Tudor Jones's father, John Paul Jones, a 1948 graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law. Paul Tudor Jones, who earned a B.A. in Economics from UVA in 1976, donated $35 million of his personal funds for the construction of the arena.[10]

The arena plays host to not only basketball games, but a wide variety of concerts, performances and other events; for example, its opening season in 2006 included events such as the Charlottesville-originated Dave Matthews Band, as well as Cirque du Soleil, Larry the Cable Guy, The Wiggles, Disney on Ice & WWE Monday Night Raw.

The arena also houses office space for SMG staff, the UVa athletics media relations department, video services and dining services. It also features coaches' offices, practice facilities and an extensive sports medicine facility for men's and women's basketball teams.

The arena's first event was Cirque du Soleil's Delirium on Tuesday, August 1, 2006, but the official Grand Opening event was a two-night tour-ending stand by Charlottesville natives Dave Matthews Band, September 22–23, 2006. An "open house" event for the local community was conducted on July 22, 2006.[11]

In February 2007, the arena was awarded the title of "Best New Major Concert Venue" at Pollstar's 18th Annual Concert Industry Awards.[12]

Basketball

File:2006-2007 Virginia Tech at Virginia men's basketball wide action shot.jpg
John Paul Jones Arena during the final ACC game of 2006-2007, in which they defeated Virginia Tech to clinch at least a share of the ACC title.

The University of Virginia opened the John Paul Jones Arena on November 12, 2006 with a pair of victories. The Virginia women's basketball team defeated Old Dominion University 92–72 in the afternoon. Later that evening in front of a capacity crowd of 15,219, the Virginia men's basketball team defeated #10 ranked Arizona 93–90, rallying from a 19-point first-half deficit. Both games included elaborate pre-game festivities that featured a fireworks display and the Cavalier mascot rappelling from the rafters. Michael Buffer was introduced to announce the Virginia starting lineup prior to the men's game.

On February 1, 2007, the Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team defeated the #8 Duke Blue Devils 68–66 in overtime, marking their first win over Duke since February 2002. The Cavaliers trailed by eight points with 3:42 left in regulation but their defense held Duke without a field goal for the final 8:42 of the game, including all of overtime. With 24.8 seconds left in regulation, a Sean Singletary 15-footer forced the extra period; Singletary also hit the game-winning basket with one hand while falling backward with one second left in overtime. The win marked Virginia's fifth ACC victory in a row and ended Duke's own five-game winning streak.

On March 1, 2007, the men's basketball team defeated Virginia Tech 69–56, clinching a share of first place in the final ACC regular season standings for the 2006–2007 season. The victory marked the school-record 16th home win of the season, and the Cavaliers finished 16–1 for the season in their new arena. Furthermore, Virginia went an undefeated 8–0 in league games at home for the first time since the Hoos went 7–0 at home in 1982. Also at this game, the fans in attendance said goodbye to two fourth-year players, J. R. Reynolds and Jason Cain, both of whom had contributed to the Virginia basketball program.

On February 28, 2013 Virginia upset #3 Duke which led to thousands of fans rushing the court. The 2012-2013 Cavaliers set a school record with 18 regular season home wins, finishing with a home record of 18-1.

On March 1, 2014, Virginia (then ranked #12) beat #4 Syracuse at JPJ to win the ACC regular season title outright (i.e., with no ties) for the first time since the 1980–81 season. This win also set two school records: Virginia's first season with sixteen conference wins, and eighteen consecutive home conference wins (a streak which began in the previous season). The same day, the Virginia student section, the "Hoo Crew," won the 2014 Naismith Student Section of the Year award. It was the final home game for future NBA players Joe Harris and Akil Mitchell, as well as former walk-on player Thomas Rogers; Rogers' three-point field goal at the end of the game, and the subsequent reaction by the crowd and team, were particularly noted by media and the Cavalier fanbase.[13][14][15]

On December 21, 2014, Virginia tied an NCAA record in JPJ by only allowing Harvard one field goal in the first half of a game; Virginia went on to win 76–27 against the Crimson, a quality team which started the season ranked AP #25 and which recovered to win 22 games and be a fellow participant in the 2015 NCAA Tournament.[16][17]

Other events

On October 25, 2008, Jay-Z played a concert at the arena, making him the first hip-hop act to play there.

On October 17, 2009, Metallica played their "World Magnetic" tour at the arena, supported by Lamb of God and Gojira. The arena became the site of the disappearance of 20-year-old Virginia Tech student Morgan Dana Harrington from the concert. She mysteriously left the arena in search of a restroom, despite 18 female restrooms being provided inside the secured arena. A "no return on exit" policy was enforced. Harrington’s skeletonized body was found at Anchorage Farm, Albemarle County on January 26, 2010. In September 2014, Virginia State Police announced a forensic link exists between the Harrington case and Jesse Matthew, the suspect in the disappearance that same month of Hannah Graham, a University of Virginia student. One week after Graham's disappearance, the arena served as the staging ground for a volunteer search effort.[18] In September 2015, Matthew was formally charged with Harrington's abduction and murder.[19]

On December 5, 2009 Phish played the final show of their 2009 Fall Tour at the arena. At the beginning of a first set "Ya Mar", an erratic fan ran on stage fully naked. He hugged guitarist Trey Anastasio and kissed him on the cheek. He made three laps around the stage before finally being run down by security. Anastasio proceeded by saying, "Let's hear it for the naked guy, pick him up, that took a lot of balls." Later on, the lyrics of "Ya Mar" stated "he was a naked pa", and "Run like an Antelope" was changed to "Run like a Naked Guy, out of control".

In September 2010, the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) brought their Built Ford Tough Series tour to JPJ Arena;[20] prior to this, the arena had hosted an event on the PBR's Enterprise Tour (which was one of the PBR's minor league tours that was eventually combined with the other minor league tours to create the Touring Pro Division in 2010).[needs update]

On June 23, 2015, Paul McCartney played a sold-out show at John Paul Jones Arena as part of his 2015 Out There tour. The June 23 show was McCartney's first ever performance in Charlottesville. Two days later, the arena hosted a rally to welcome home the 2015 Virginia Cavaliers baseball team following their College World Series championship.[21]

References

  1. http://www.virginiasports.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2006-2007/va1112a.html
  2. 1634 to 1699: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. 1700-1799: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. 1800–present: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. Most of the building is actually in Albemarle County, Virginia, which encloses but does not include the City of Charlottesville. Only a small piece of the southeastern corner of the building is in the city. Detailed PDF maps (which may run slowly as they use quite a bit of memory) are available at: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. Virginia 93, #10 Arizona 90, accessed February 4, 2014
  6. Transcript: Rick Pitino Previews Virginia, accessed February 6, 2015
  7. Pitino, players talk Virginian loss, access February 8, 2015
  8. Without Anderson, Ball Security Key for Cavaliers, accessed February 11, 2015
  9. Hoyas need more from Joshua Smith; A putback flashback for Colonials, accessed February 11, 2015
  10. "What's In A Name" - University of Virginia - John Paul Jones Arena
  11. John Paul Jones Arena Open House Press Release - Official website, accessed 22 July 2006.
  12. The 18th Annual Concert Industry Awards - February 8, 2007
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  20. http://www.pbrnow.com/competition/bfts/2010/index.cfm?id=3263
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External links

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