Alumni Gym Scrapbook

Seventy-seven years of memories.

Inauspicious beginning: The first basketball game played in Alumni Gym was held on January 28, 1911. A record crowd of 800 watched Wesleyan defeat Dartmouth.

Instant nostalgia: Paul Cormier, now in his third season as men's basketball coach at the College, couldn't wait to move out of Alumni Gym. Cormier admits, however, to having found an affinity for the building last winter when the Big Green enjoyed its first winning season in eight years and capacity crowds filled the stands.

"When you pack them in the way we have this past season, you get great atmosphere," Coach Cormier said. "The fans are right on the court, and it gives us a big home court advantage. Opposing teams hate to come up here and play us because it's like playing in a pit."

Gym Highlights

• Most points in a game (Dartmouth player): Paul Erland '72 scored 44 points against Holy Cross on January 27, 1971. Dartmouth lost the game, however—81-75.

• Most points by Dartmouth: On December 1, 1971, Dartmouth routed Connecticut, 107 to 72.

• Most points by an opponent: Alumni gym was the scene of a horror show on January 14, 1967, as Princeton wiped out the Big Green, 116 to 42.

• Outstanding Player: Rudy LaRusso '59. During his career, he scored 1,167 points, pulled down 1,239 rebounds and led Dartmouth to two Ivy titles. He went on to a successful career with the Los Angeles Lakers.

• Outstanding Coach: Doggie Julian. Although he lost more games (236) than he won (183), Julian's name is most often associated with Dartmouth basketball because he brought home three Ivy League titles and his teams from 1955 through 1960 formed a winning dynasty which hasn't been matched.

Forgotten But Not Gone: Last spring, workmen overhauling Alumni Gym stumbled upon a set of four-feet-tall Indian head andirons and regalia from the era when male cheerleaders dressed in pseudo-Indian garb. They were sent to Baker Library where they now share digs with Daniel Webster's socks and Robert Frost's suitcase in the Library's realia collection.

Too small: When Alumni Gym was built, there were 1,500 men on campus. Today more than 4,000 students jockey for gym time.

Getting better: Come September 1988, Alumni Gym will have a new look. The main gym will be renovated to accommodate Dartmouth's increasingly popular intramural program. Unlike the varsity hoopsters who in recent years contended with an eccentric floor, the refurbished gym's two basketball courts will have smooth, solid floors. Joggers will keep tabs on any full-court presses from an elevated indoor track that will circle the gym. Two new weight rooms for team athletes are under construction, as are brand-new locker rooms for general student use.

"Is This Building Worth Finishing?" That headline ran on a broadsheet the College distributed in 1910 when cost overruns threatened to stall the construction of Alumni Gym. In retrospect, the money was well spent. Even with the additional expense, the final price of Alumni Gym was less than the $150,000 it cost to furnish the weight room in the new Berry Sports Center 77 years later.

Better basketball: When Alumni Gym's cornerstone was laid in 1909, the main purpose of the building was to provide a facility for basketball. Before that, Dartmouth's teams played in Bissell Hall, an 1867-vintage structure that was located on the site of the Hopkins Center. Bissell Hall was replaced because it was too small and had a substandard basketball floor.

World's Largest Gym: Spanning some 362 feet, Alumni Gym was cited in 1917 by the Boston Post as the largest gymnasium in the world. Alumni Gym impressed the reporter because in addition to the indoor track and basketball facilities there was the large exercise room pictured above.

Outstanding Team: Dartmouth's 1941-42 team. Led by Ail-American Charles Pearson '42 and George Munroe '43, the College went 22-3 before losing to Stanford in the NCAA finals. Also deserving mention is the 1943-44 squad which went 192 and lost to Utah in overtime in the NCAA title game.

Worst Team: The 1917-18 edition, hands down. Dartmouth went 0-26 that winter. The coach didn't return the next year. And for that matter, neither did the team The College took a year off from intercollegiate competition.