McNeese Arena Opens

McNeese will play its first men’s home basketball game in the new Health and Human Performance Education Complex on Friday, Nov. 16, against Loyola University New Orleans.

Game time is 6:30 p.m. and doors will open at 5:30 p.m. Tickets will be on sale at the ticket office in the Doland Fieldhouse from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday and from 8 a.m.-noon on Friday. The ticket office in the H&HP Complex will open at noon on Friday.  It is located at the northwest corner of the complex off McNeese Street.

“We are excited to begin a new era of McNeese basketball in this on-campus facility and I am grateful to everyone that has worked so hard to get us to this point,” McNeese President Dr. Daryl Burckel said.

“There is still work to be completed in the complex so this will be a soft opening. Some features of the building will not be ready on Friday and we will offer limited concessions,” Burckel said.

The $40 million complex is home to the McNeese men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball programs and the Department of Health and Human Performance. Classes will be held in the building starting in January.

The basketball arena seats 4,200. McNeese has played its basketball games at Burton Coliseum since 1986. Burckel said that official opening ceremonies for the H&HP Educational Complex will be held early in the spring semester.