The Hall of Champions

Last week as both the Penn State men’s and women’s basketball teams returned to Rec Hall for games, it was hard not to get a tad nostalgic. Although the setup was off as it related to the traditional placement of the student section, it was fun to see the venerable old hall hosting hoops again.

Earlier this year Penn State played at The Palestra in Philadelphia and there was so much talk about the mystique of the building. Coaches and players from both teams that came in for that and Penn State’s previous Palestra games all talked about the history, the lore of the place. But when it comes to Rec Hall, I doubt visiting hoops teams grasp the mystique, a history that goes far beyond basketball.

It is understandable. Rec Hall stands humbly on campus under the constant watchful eye of the Nittany Lion Shrine. Walk past it and all you’ll see are the words “Recreation Building” above the doors atop the steps.

But it’s time to elevate and celebrate the old place. It opened in January 1929, and in the 95 intervening years it has been the home for incredible success. In terms of championship pedigree, Rec Hall should rank as one of the most iconic venues in all of college sports. 

It is time to rebrand Rec Hall, as The Rec Hall of Champions.

A closer look at Rec Hall reveals a national championship history that ranks it among the greatest existing championship buildings in all of sports in the United States. Rec Hall and its banners remain while buildings like The Boston Garden and the real Yankee Stadium are gone. 

Rec Hall has been the home venue for 39 national championship teams, and in a few weeks wrestling is the favorite to make that number an even 40.

One of the best-kept secrets in college athletics nationally has been Penn State’s national title success across a range of sports. Name the schools that have won the most NCAA titles and people will roll off Stanford, UCLA and USC and then maybe they’ll guess Texas. And those are the top four. The next school is Penn State.

Penn State has won 53 NCAA championships, a number that does not include several women’s titles from the days before the NCAA started to sponsor women’s sports championships in the early 1980s. 

All told, Penn State has 90 varsity national championships across 15 sports. That includes women’s sports before 1981 as well as football. Football titles were never “NCAA titles” because the NCAA doesn’t run a national title tourney for football at this level. (Also note: the 90 titles include the 1911, 1912 and 1994 football teams that have been recognized as national titles by the National Championship Foundation and other national polls).

But specific to Rec Hall, that Hall of Champions was home to seven teams that have won 39 national titles in the years when they competed there. Men’s gymnastics (13), wrestling (11), boxing (3) and volleyball (2) are joined by women’s volleyball (7), gymnastics (2) and bowling (1), when there were bowling lanes in Rec Hall.

My memory can’t recall if the fencing teams (another 15 national titles) have always been based in the White Building. I do remember watching them compete in the South Gym of Rec Hall, but I don’t know if Rec Hall was ever their true home venue. If so, that only adds to the history.

And Rec Hall has not only been the home of national champions. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke there, as did President Barack Obama. Former President Bill Clinton spoke there in 2008. Bruce Springsteen, The Temptations, Pearl Jam, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Grateful Dead are among the many acts that have played there. And in 1946 and 1947, a young golfer named Arnold Palmer won two state golf championships across the street at the White Course.

The building has even produced legends in other fields. The captain of the 1929 national championship boxing team and national bantamweight boxing champion, Julius Epstein, went on to win an Oscar for writing Casablanca. Mike Reid was a conference champion heavyweight wrestler (along with his football exploits) who went on to win a Grammy for songwriting.

So as we look at the history of academic and athletic achievement let’s tell the story of The Rec Hall of Champions in a run-up to its 100th birthday.

Perhaps it’s time for a mural outside the building that would include coaches who won multiple national titles while coaching in Rec Hall. That would include Cael Sanders, Russ Rose, Gene Wettstone, Mark Pavlik and Judi Avener. But it should also include others who won multiple national titles at Penn State, like Gillian Rattray and Bill Jeffrey. Many of those coaches still rank among the greatest in the history of their sport. Until the Bryce Jordan Center was built, all of those coaches worked in Rec Hall, whether their teams competed there or not.

It would be a great way to elevate the mystique not just of our Rec Hall of Champions, but the proud history of athletics at Penn State. As a new Big Ten era begins in 2024, we would be wise to celebrate the past. The ghosts of Rec Hall Champions are there. If we listen in that venerable Hall of Champions, we can hear the distant cheers they heard laying the foundation of excellence across all sports.