Grand Ole GIA
Underwood, Cowboys seeking win in Gallagher-Iba Arena’s 1,000th game
STILLWATER — Brad Underwood gushed about GallagherIba Arena last March when introduced as Oklahoma State’s next coach.
The grand old building played a major part in Underwood signing on with the Cowboys, appealing to his old-school, traditionalist values with a call to restore the program and the arena to its former celebrated state.
He’s gushing still, preparing to coach a milestone mark: the 1,000th men’s basketball game played inside GIA, set for Wednesday when Kansas State visits for an 8 p.m. tipoff.
“That’s historic,” Underwood said, glancing up at the rafters where NCAA Championship and Final Four banners hang as reminders of glory days past. “It’s the reason I came here.
“You look up and see ‘Dedicated in 1938.’ And you see the names. If you could only imagine some of the great moments that have taken place here. I get nostalgic.”
Underwood’s task is to link the nostalgic past to now, which hasn’t come easy, with an 0-5 start to Big 12 play pumping the brakes on momentum built through a 10-2 start through the nonconference schedule.
The Cowboys have played well at times of late, pushing Baylor and Kansas to the wire, on the road, just as each was ascending into the No. 1 spot in the national polls. And Underwood, and his players, claim the club is close to a breakthrough.
“We’re not far off,” Underwood said. “I think just as easy as we’ve lost the first five, it’s one game at a time, but this team’s capable of going out and making a nice run.”
And maybe, just maybe, could things be aligning just right for a big night inside “Historic” Gallagher-Iba Arena, which hosted its first game Dec. 9, 1938, as the 4-H Club and Student Activities Building? There’s the 1,000th game. There’s Underwood coaching against his alma mater for the first time.
There’s Underwood still seeking his 100th career win, after being stuck on No. 99 since late
December.
Might the ghosts of Mr. Iba and Bob Kurland and the images of big shots by “Big Country” and halfcourt Eddie Hannon and the well wishes of Eddie Sutton and so many more influence a memorable night and flip the script on a season that’s veering sideways?
“I think it’s amazing what a win can do,” Underwood said. “We need that feeling again.”
Even for today’s Cowboys, the magic of Gallagher-Iba Arena is more than just lore.
“It’s an honor to be able to come out and put on the uniform in Gallagher-Iba any day,” said sophomore Davon Dillard.
Some have gotten a glimpse of what the old place can be, on those nights when the place is full and the building roars.
OSU is 780-219 alltime in the arena, and several big wins have come in recent seasons.
“Probably my freshman year against Kansas,” Mitchell Solomon said of his favorite GIA moment in 2014, when the Cowboys knocked off the No. 5 Jayhawks, 72-65. “That was a fun game.”
A Bixby product, Solomon has more history with GIA than most of the Cowboys.
“My earliest memory is coming to camps, 10-, 11-, 12-years old,” he said. “Coming and staying overnight with my friends.”
So playing in game No. 1,000 is special.
“Oh, for sure,” Solomon said.
“That’s a big honor. It’s like a dream come true to be able to play a historic game in a historic place.”
Underwood recognizes the honor, too, having played and coached in the building with Kansas State, when GIA was at its best.
And he vows to return the arena to what he believes is its rightful place among college basketball’s best game day experiences.
And why not start with game No. 1,000?
“We were in Allen Fieldhouse Saturday,” Underwood said, “and to know we’re there with them, and that buzz. It’s pretty special.
“That’s a lot of ballgames in a great venue in a great basketball town at a great place. It’ll be fun to be a part of that.”