20th Anniversary: The Timeless Jenny Craig Pavilion

It would be hard to pinpoint the exact moment when USD Athletics outgrew its old venue for basketball and volleyball, the Sports Center.

Perhaps it was when fans began hopping fences to sneak in and catch a peek of a sold-out men’s basketball game. Not even Bill Walton could get a seat at gametime for the Toreros’ matchup against LMU in 1990 — the basketball legend tried, but was turned away. There simply wasn’t enough room.

Or maybe it was when an official count of seats in the gymnasium came up 1,000 seats short of the advertised capacity — 1,500 instead of the listed 2,500. A revelation that made sense given the lack of tickets available for a certain hardwood Hall of Famer.

“It definitely was an intimate, small facility,” said USD Senior Associate Director of Athletics for Administration Dan Yourg, who has worked in the school’s athletic department since 1985. “It was a challenging venue to have competition in from the size standpoint for fans. But we made the best of it. The fans were so close to the action, it was probably an intense place for a visiting team to come to.”

But by any account, the Toreros had long been ready for an upgrade. 

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