 Thomas Assembly Center |
The Thomas Assembly Center has been home to the Louisiana Tech Bulldog and Lady Techster basketball teams since it opened in November of 1982. It has also served as the home arena for the Lady Techster volleyball program since the program's inception in 1987. The 8,000-seat Thomas Assembly Center received a new state-of-the-art Maplewood floor in the summer of 2007 thanks to the generous donation of Bulldog legend Karl Malone. Aptly named Karl Malone Court, the hardwood is made of the same material that all NBA practice facilities boast. In a continuing effort to improve the game-day atmosphere, a high definition video display board -- known as Paul Millsap Vision presented by Origin Bank -- was installed by Daktronics in the fall of 2013. The $1.2 million project also included four LED center hung video displays (7.3 by 11.4), two LED ribbon board displays (2 x 45.8 and 2 x 61.4), four new corner courtside displays (2 video displays, 2 standard scoreboard displays with messaging centers), a customized sound system and a video board control room which is utilized for both basketball and football. The Thomas Assembly Center recently celebrated its 35-year anniversary and has continually proven to be one of the toughest arenas in the country for opposing collegiate basketball teams to play in on both the men's and women's sides. The nationally-renowned Lady Techster basketball program has dominated their opposition for over three decades in the Thomas Assembly Center, winning an amazing 86 percent of their games while posting a mark of 465-78. The win-loss record is ranked in the top five in all of Division I women's basketball. It has been home to 25 NCAA Tournament teams, the 1988 National Champion, 16 Kodak All-Americans and the winningest coach in the history of the game in Hall of Famer Leon Barmore. During the course of the program's history in the TAC, the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters have put together some incredible winning streaks including: - winning 161 straight games vs. unranked opponents (starting with a 79-66 win over Western Kentucky in 1991-92 and ending with a 71-65 overtime loss to Illinois in 2004-05) - winning 114 straight regular season conference games (starting with a 79-66 win over Western Kentucky in 1991-92 and ending with a 68-47 loss to Boise State in 2006-07) The Lady Techsters have also boasted some of the top attendance numbers in the nation during their times, including 15 crowds of more than 7,000 and eight crowds of more than 8,000. On numerous occasions the Lady Techsters have ranked among the nation's Top 40 in home attendance, including a program record 5,330 in 1982-83. Both the Lady Techsters and Bulldogs played before a Thomas Assembly Center record 8,975 fans in a double header sweep of I-20 rival ULM (formerly Northeast Louisiana) on Jan. 22, 1985. The Lady Techsters have posted 13 perfect seasons in the Thomas Assembly Center, and won a program record 19 home games in 1988-89. Tech is 36-0 all-time at the TAC in NCAA Tournament games. The Lady Techsters aren't the only program to have dominated in the Assembly Center as the Bulldog basketball team has had its share of winning tradition at home. Since 1982, numerous Bulldog basketball teams have seen success on the hardwood from Andy Russo's early-1980s Dunkin' Dogs featuring NBA Hall of Famer Karl Malone all the way through the new millennium under Michael White and now current head coach Eric Konkol. Tech has posted a remarkable 367-102 mark in the Thomas Assembly Center for an impressive winning percentage of 78. LA Tech has recorded 33 (out of 36) winning seasons at home since 1982. NBA greats such as Malone, P.J. Brown, Randy White and Paul Millsap have all called the Thomas Assembly Center home during their collegiate careers. The Mailman led Louisiana Tech to a Top 10 national ranking in 1984-85 when the Bulldogs posted a 29-3 mark, including a perfect 14-0 at the Thomas Assembly Center, and a spot in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. After losing their first ever home game at the Assembly Center, Tech reeled off a program-record 40 straight wins covering three seasons as Malone and Co. dominated the Southland Conference on its way to three straight league titles. Malone, White and Brown all took their turn leading the Bulldogs to eight straight 20-plus win seasons (1983-1992) and national postseason appearances including five NCAA Tournaments and three NIT appearances. A decade later Bulldog fans were privileged enough to watch Paul Millsap win three straight NCAA rebounding titles, the first player in Division I history to accomplish this feat. And in the past seven seasons behind the play of Speedy Smith, Raheem Appleby, Alex Hamilton and Erik McCree the arena has been one of the toughest place in the country for opponents to win. Since February of 2012, the 'Dogs are 91-9 in the TAC which is the 12th highest winning percentage (.910) in the country during that span. Since joining Conference USA in 2013-14, the Bulldogs are 39-5 versus league foes -- best winning percentage in the league -- and are also a perfect 5-0 in national postseason games at the Thomas Assembly Center after defeating Central Michigan, 89-79, in the first round of the NIT in 2015. The Lady Techster volleyball team has also called the Assembly Center home since 1987, recently celebrating their 30th year of competition, as Tech has played nearly every season in the Thomas Assembly Center. The TAC has seen the Lady Techsters go on to have seven separate winning seasons including a school best 29-10 season in 1992. Now about to enter its fourth decade, the Techster volleyball program is led by Adriano de Souza. Lady Techster legends such as Katie Dow Kahmann, Jamie Shanks, Courtney Ziegenbien, Sharla Richardson and even more recently in Christinne Sant'anna and Shannon Phillips have all called the Thomas Assembly Center home for their college careers.
From the East on I-20
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