On Nov. 13, 1956, Alexander Memorial Coliseum opened its doors to basketball. It was an opening it would rather have not seen. Georgia Tech lost 71-61 to Duke. Fast-forward nearly 55 years to the afternoon when its tinted windowed doors will be closing for the final time. At close of Sunday’s game against Miami, the basketball games, Olympic wrestling matches, commencement exercises and concerts will all be but a fond memory. Bulldozers soon will fill the space, erecting instead a $45 million arena soon-to-be-named Hank McCamish Pavilion. Only the roof will remain. In Thrillerdome’s final day, The Telegraph looks back at five iconic basketball wins that gave it the endearing nickname.
Alexander Memorial Coliseum, before a game against Siena fall of 2009. Photo Credit: Josh D. Weiss/joshdweiss.com/The Telegraph
1. Jan. 30, 1961. Kaiser’s broken-thumb jumper vs. Kentucky.
Playing with a broken thumb on his shooting hand, All-America guard Roger Kaiser hit a baseline jumper as time expired to give the Yellow Jackets a 62-60 upset over Kentucky.
With 30 seconds remaining in the game, the Wildcats’ Carroll Burchett tied the game at 60 with a tip-in. Given the ball on the subsequent inbound pass, Kaiser dribbled much of the clock away before driving to the baseline, shaking two defenders and knocking down the shot from the corner as the buzzer sounded. He was 7-for-15 from the field and 15-for-19 from the free throw line to lead the Yellow Jackets to their third win in four games over vaunted Kentucky.
2. Jan. 23, 1984. Triple-OT Thriller over Virginia.
Want drama? This game had it all. Not only did the game go to a first overtime, but it went to a second and a third. For younger readers, it ought to conjure images of the triple-overtime thriller between Syracuse and Connecticut two seasons ago in the Big East tournament.
While this was a regular season game, the Yellow Jackets staged a dramatic second overtime comeback. Trailing by five with 1:28 in the period, they scored on four consecutive subsequent trips down the floor. Yvon Joseph nailed a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left to tie the game and send it to the third overtime.
In the third overtime, John Salley buried two free throws with 59 seconds left to give the Yellow Jackets a lead they would no longer relinquish. Georgia Tech won 72-71. The next season, they won an ACC championship under head coach Bobby Cremins.
3. Feb. 1, 1990. Lethal Weapon 3 dominate Tar Heels.
At the time, the 9,806 who packed Alexander Memorial Coliseum on this day were the most the building had ever seen at one time. Bigger crowds would be recorded in later years until Georgia Tech formally called 9,191 arena capacity about a decade later. On this particular night, however, those who showed got a beatdown of historic proportions.
Rolling to a 102-75 win, the Yellow Jackets gave North Carolina its worst loss since 1964. During the game, guards Dennis Scott and Brian Oliver went for 37 and 34 points, respectively. Kenny Anderson, the third member of the “Lethal Weapon 3” trio, had 17 assists. Georgia Tech outrebounded North Carolina 52-34 and went on a seven-game winning streak from there. Later that season, the Yellow Jackets won the ACC championship and made their first trip to the Final Four.
4. Jan. 10, 1993. Unbeaten no more.
When No. 1 Duke came to the Coliseum in mid-January, the Blue Devils were 10-0, were riding a 23-game winning streak that spanned two seasons and were fresh off a national title.
That didn’t matter to the 10th-ranked Yellow Jackets.
Freshman Drew Barry came off the bench to score 11 points to help Georgia Tech knock off Goliath 80-79. In addition to Barry’s efforts, fellow freshman Martice Moore had a dominating second half that the Blue Devils had few answers for. Moore and Barry combined for 15 of Georgia Tech’s 19 points that spanned a key second-half stretch. During the stretch, the Yellow Jackets took a two-point lead with 1:04 to go. They didn’t give it up. The game also started with a 12-0 Georgia Tech run.
Later that year, Georgia Tech beat Duke in the ACC tournament.
5. Jan. 31, 2009. Shumpert’s game-winner causes upset, rushed floor.
Much like this year, the 2008-09 season was a difficult one for the Yellow Jackets. Losses piled up and conference wins were even tougher to come by.
So imagine the euphoria students and fans finally felt on the last day of January when Iman Shumpert’s game-winner gave Georgia Tech its first ACC victory of the season and caused the Yellow Jackets to knock off a highly rated foe.
With the seconds dwindling in a tied game, Shumpert — then a freshman — drove the length court, faked penetration to the basket, pulled up just inside the top of the key and dropped a game-winner with one solitary second left on the clock.
Wake Forest had no time to respond with a shot of its own, causing students to flood the floor to celebrate with the Yellow Jackets.
Other notes about the Coliseum:
~Original capacity: 6,766
~Today's capacity: 9,191
~Original cost: $1.6 million
~Cost of most recent renovation: $13 million
~Cost of Hank McCamish Pavilion: $45 million
~All-time arena record: 554-192
~Also used by: The Atlanta Hawks (1968-72, 1997-99); Olympic boxing (1996); NCAA women's volleyball Regionals (1994, 2003); SEC men's basketball tournament (2008)
~Four victories over No. 1-ranked opponents: Kentucky (1955, 1964); Duke (1993); North Carolina (1994)
~Notable concerts/speakers: Chicago, Allman Brothers, Janis Joplin, Big Boi, Andrew Young, Zell Miller, Maynard Jackson, Jimmy Carter, Roy Barnes, Maya Angelou, Dick Gregory
--Information from Georgia Tech athletics
