UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men’s basketball team will host a game at Rec Hall for the third-straight season in 2025-26. The Nittany Lions will welcome Wisconsin in their Return to Rec game on Thursday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m.
The Return to Rec game will be included in the 2025-26 men’s basketball season ticket package, with a very limited number of single-game tickets made available at a later date.
Rec Hall, the current home of Penn State men’s and women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s gymnastics and wrestling team, was the longtime home of men’s basketball until 1996 when the squad made the permanent move to the Bryce Jordan Center.
Men's basketball returns to Rec Hall for the third-straight year after facing Ohio State and Illinois at Rec Hall the past two years. Since moving into the Bryce Jordan Center during the 1996 season, Penn State has played at Rec Hall on five occasions – Dec. 14, 2013 vs. Princeton (L, 79-81 OT), Dec. 10, 2015 vs. Canisius (W, 81-67), Dec. 12, 2015 vs. Louisiana Monroe (W, 54-50), Feb. 21, 2024 vs. #12 Illinois (W, 90-89) and Jan. 30, 2025 vs. Ohio State (L, 64-83). The Nittany Lions will host their third Big Ten opponent in a Return to Rec game when the Badgers come to Happy Valley on Jan. 22.
The Nittany Lions defeated Wisconsin, 79-50, in their final Rec Hall game on Jan. 7, 1996, before moving to their current home in the 15,261-seat Bryce Jordan Center the following game on Jan. 11, 1996. Rec Hall gained a reputation as one of the toughest places to play in the nation when it served as the home of the Nittany Lions from 1929-96. That reputation was built on boisterous crowds who packed the arena to the rafters and a student section that was right on top of the floor. Rec Hall had a final listed capacity of 6,846 for basketball, but more than 8,000 fans jammed into the iconic building for a basketball game six times in the building's history, including a record 8,600 fans for a contest vs. Virginia on Dec. 5, 1973.
The Lions compiled a stellar 514-183 (.737) record in Rec Hall from 1929-96, including a 45-game win streak from 1951-55. That era saw the Nittany Lions reach the program's only NCAA Final Four in 1954 behind All-American Jesse Arnelle and coach Elmer Gross. Arnelle is among a long list of Penn State greats to have made their mark on the Rec Hall floor, including names like John Amaechi, Freddie Barnes, John Barr, Ron Brown, Monroe Brown, Carver Clinton, Dan Earl, Mark Dumars, Gene Harris, Deron Hayes, Tom Hovasse, Mike Lang, Pete Lisicky and Bob Weiss.
Penn State was led by nine different head coaches during the Rec Hall era, including longtime NBA coaches Dick Harter (1979-83) and John Bach (1969-78), the Lions' all-time wins leader John Egli (1955-68), Helm's Foundation Hall of Fame inductee John Lawther (1937-49) and Bruce Parkhill (1984-95). Parkhill led the Lions through one of the program's most successful eras and into the Big Ten Conference with four-straight 20-win seasons and four-straight postseason appearances between 1988-92. He was on the sideline when Penn State captured the A-10 Tournament Championship on the Rec Hall floor in 1991.
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Fans can keep up to date with the Nittany Lion men’s basketball team on X and Instagram @PennStateMBB, in addition to the team’s Facebook page at /PennStateBasketball.