The Cam Henderson Center, located in the heart of the
Marshall University campus, is the home of the Thundering Herd basketball and
volleyball teams. Within the 213,000 square-foot, fully-equipped Henderson Center,
teams finds the tools necessary to be successful.
The Henderson Center, one of the finest venues in Conference
USA, received a $5-million renovation prior to the 1998-99 season that actually
lowered the number of seats from 10,000+ to a more intimate 9,048.
The lower half of the arena, which was origionally built in
1981, was completely gutted and rebuilt with fan comfort in mind. Permanent,
padded, chairback seating was installed along with walkways designed to allow
fans to go from section to section without missing any of the game.
The portable floor, which rested on top of a tarten surface,
was also replaced with a permanent wooden floor that covers the entire arena
base. In the fall of 2003, a refurbished floor and new scoreboard were also installed.
Through the direction of ESPN, the arena also received state of the art wiring
for television and radio broadcasts.
In addition to this, a new Bob C. Hartley Room for pre-game
parties, banquets and functions was opened prior to the 2001-02 season beneath
the north side stands. That facility includes meeting rooms that are utilized
by all teams throughout the year.
Once again, as it was when first opened in 1981, the
Henderson Center is a first-rate athletic facility.
The Henderson Center is a multi-purpose structure that
houses much of Marshall University's athletic department. Inside the Henderson
Center are the men's basketball offices, a majority of the athletic department
staff, the ticket office, an 800-seat natatorium, a state of the art training
room, a basketball-specific weight room, and spacious locker rooms.
Since its opening, when the men's basketball team christened
the court with nine consecutive wins, more than 1.9 million fans have flooded
the stands to see the Herd compete. Over the years, the Henderson Center has
seen capacity crowds five times and has attracted over 10,000 fans on eight
other occasions.
The single game attendance record was set on February 18,
1984, against The Citadel when 10,705 fans witnessed the Herd trounce the
Bulldogs, 85-71. Marshall set a single-season attendance record in 1984-85 at
136,633 for the 16-game home schedule, an average of 8,539 per game.