By the numbers

Jadwin Gymnasium celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. The building, which is home to eight varsity teams, hosted its first athletic event, a men’s basketball game against the University of Pennsylvania, on Jan. 25, 1969. Princeton defeated Penn, 74-62.

In a Feb. 21 ceremony, the playing floor at Jadwin Gymasium was named “Carril Court” in honor of Hall of Famer Pete Carril (with microphone), who coached the Princeton men’s basketball team for 29 years. (photo: Beverly Schaefer)

Jadwin is home to Princeton men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s indoor track and field, men’s and women’s squash, and men’s and women’s fencing. It also has hosted many other events, including a one-man show by comedian Eddie Murphy, a speech by former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and an exhibition match with the trailblazing African American tennis star Arthur Ashe.

Jadwin is the fifth home for men’s basketball. The team played in Bonner-Marquand Gymnasium (where Campbell Hall now stands) from 1900 to 1902; in University Gym from 1903 until a fire destroyed the building in 1944; in Baker Rink from 1944 until Dillon Gymnasium opened in 1947; and in Dillon from 1947 until Jadwin’s construction.

On Feb. 21, Jadwin’s game floor was named “Carril Court” in honor of Hall of Famer Pete Carril, the men’s basketball coach who won 514 games and 13 Ivy League championships in his 29 years at Princeton. Carril coached the Tigers from the 1967-68 season until the 1995-96 season.

In honor of Jadwin’s 40th anniversary, Princeton’s Department of Athletics has compiled a group of facts about the building into “The Top 40 Moments in Jadwin Gym History.” Here are some highlights:

• On Nov. 13, 1971, the Beach Boys played the first concert at Jadwin. Among the songs the group played were “Good Vibrations,” “Surfin’ U.S.A.” and “California Girls.” Other performers who have given shows at Jadwin include Bruce Springsteen and the group Boston.
• On Oct. 7, 1987, shortly before the start of basketball practice, a circus came to Jadwin Gym. The weight of the elephants damaged the floor and the beams underneath, forcing a scramble to fix the problem in time for the basketball season.
• On Feb. 23, 1990, Sandi Bittler set an Ivy League basketball record that still stands by making 10 three-point shots in a game against Dartmouth.
• On Jan. 13, 2006, women’s basketball star Meagan Cowher scored 35 points against Cornell University, one night after scoring 31 points against Columbia University, giving her the highest Ivy League weekend point total by a men’s or women’s player in Jadwin history.
• On Feb. 24, 2008, Princeton defeated Penn, 6-3, after dropping two of the first three matches to win the women’s national squash championship for the second straight year. The win gave Princeton a national champion team or individual for the 22nd straight year.
• On Oct. 24, 2008, Princeton retired the No. 42 across all sports in honor of football’s Dick Kazmaier and basketball’s Bill Bradley, arguably two of the greatest athletes in school history, in a ceremony in Jadwin. Kazmaier, a 1952 alumnus, won the 1951 Heisman Trophy for the nation’s top collegiate football player. Bradley was awarded the Sullivan Award as the outstanding U.S. amateur athlete in 1965, the year he graduated.