Sawyer Center
Capacity: 5,000
Opened: 1998
Sports
» Men's Basketball
» Women's Basketball
» Volleyball
Location
» On Campus, Northwest 39th & Donald
On February 18, 1998, Southern Nazarene University unveiled the finest small college athletic facility in America to a standing room only crowd of 5,000 as SNU hosted cross-town rival Oklahoma City in a double header of men’s and women’s basketball. The crowd was entertained to two Crimson Storm victories and since that inaugural night, the Sawyer Center has become one of the gems of small college athletic facilities in the country.
SNU’s Sawyer Center is named after former men’s basketball player Carl & Marcia Sawyer who generously donated the university’s first million dollar donation to help fund the multi-million dollar facility.
The first official event in the Sawyer Center was the annual Excel auction, held on Thursday February 11th, 1998.
The Sawyer Center seats 5,000 for basketball and is the home for SNU basketball and volleyball. The Sawyer Center also is home to Southern Nazarene University’s graduation ceremonies and host’s local high school sporting events.
The 98,000 square foot facility began construction on July 11th, 1997 and was completed 79 weeks later. Inside the Sawyer Center on the second floor is the Storm Shelter room for athletic boosters, which features a floor to ceiling glass wall that overlooks the playing surface. There is also a luxury President’s box on the third floor that overlooks the playing surface.
The Sawyer Center houses the majority of SNU’s athletic staff and includes 16 offices and one conference room. On the third floor of the west side of the building the Sawyer Center is also home to HEALTHSOUTH Physical Therapy Corporation.
The Sawyer Center also features a 37 speaker state-of-the-art Bose
sound system. The sound system is controlled through a state-of-the-art
sound booth, which sits above floor level on the west side of the
playing floor.
There are six Locker rooms, two for varsity men’s and women’s
basketball, one for volleyball and three for visiting opponents
and officials. There are also two state-of-the-art training rooms
that help to take care of SNU’s 370 plus athletes.
On the second floor of the facility is a mondo-synthetic track surrounding the second level of the Sawyer Center. It takes nine laps around the track to complete a mile. Also located on the second floor on the west side is a weight room that overlooks the SNU campus.
Other amenities inside include two concession stands, one on the first floor and one on the second floor and trophy cases for all of SNU’s 17 varsity sports.
All seats in the main arena are bleachers with the exception of the chair back seats for the Storm Chasers members. Members who purchase annual seats retain the privilege of sitting in this special reserved section.
Media covering the Crimson Storm have a choice of two areas on the floor for game coverage and filing their stories. The sideline press tables on the south side provide adequate seating for home and visiting broadcasters as well as local media covering Crimson Storm basketball. The south side tables come equipped with three power strips and four phone lines as well as Internet capabilities.
On the north side of the Sawyer Center, the press tables house the home statistics crew, the Public Address announcer, clock keepers and several spaces for visiting Sports Information staffs.
The Sawyer Center also features a large scoreboard, which is suspended
above mid-court and can be seen from all four angles of the gymnasium.
There are also two smaller scoreboards on the corners of the east
and west
walls.
 Sawyer Center Floor Level |
 Main Lobby Trophy Cases |
 Men's Basketball Locker Room |
 Men's Basketball Locker Room |
 Women's Basketball Locker Room |
 Women's Basketball Locker Room |
 Second Level Track |
 Second Level Track |
 Second Level Storm Shelter |
 Second Level Track |
 Second Level Weight Room |
 Second Level Weight Room |
 Volleyball Game |
 Volleyball Locker Room |
