Millett Hall

Millett Hall is a basketball arena in Oxford, Ohio. It is home to the Miami University men's and women's basketball, and women's volleyball teams. It is also the home of the ROTC program and various university events. It is named after Miami University's 16th President John D. Millett. The original construction cost was approximately $7.5 million. It is located on the northern part of Miami's campus, near Yager Stadium. The arena opened its doors on December 2, 1968, against Adolph Rupp's Kentucky Wildcats. A crowd of 9,135 saw the Wildcats win 86-77. Miami's first win came on December 4, 1968, an 86-67 win over Bellarmine.SeatingThe arena's official capacity is listed as 9,200, Portable bleachers are installed at the north end of the court for the main student section. The south end of the court is reserved for the Pep Band and for the Red Alert student section.The majority of the seating is located on the sides of the court. These are divided up into an upper and lower bowl. The seats in the lower bowl are a green fabric material, while the upper bowl are a brown color. A large video scoreboard hangs from the center of the arena with statistics.One of the main complaints with the arena is that the fans are too far away from the action. The arena was built for multi-purpose use and not for athletics. Unlike many of the other arenas in the Mid-American Conference, fans are not on top of the court at Millett. Miami head coach Charlie Coles reflected on this in an interview with the Columbus Dispatch in 2007. "When you play at Millett the fans are so far away, and that has affected our student crowd." He added, "They don't feel like they can be an influence, and young people today like to be an influence. You can't get that momentum. We have to get a large crowd to have an impact of the home arena."