Thomas Assembly Center

Thomas Assembly Center
Construction
"The TAC"

Location	1650 West Alabama Avenue Ruston, LA 71272
Owner	Louisiana Tech University
Operator	Louisiana Tech University
Capacity	8,000
Record attendance	8,975 (January 22, 1985)
Surface	Maplewood
Opened	December 4, 1982
Construction cost	$17.5 million
Architect	Morgan, Hill, Sutton & Mitchell Architects, LLC.
Tenants
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs and Lady Techsters (NCAA) (1982–present)

The Samuel M. Thomas Assembly Center is an 8,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Ruston, Louisiana. The arena, named for its benefactor and businessman Samuel M. Thomas, is home to the Division I NCAA Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs (men) and Lady Techsters (women) basketball teams.

The arena opened in November 1982 just west of Joe Aillet Stadium, and replaced the then-thirty-year-old Memorial Gymnasium on the corner of Tech Drive and Railroad Avenue. The men's basketball team hosted the Southland Conference tournament in the TAC in 1985 and 1987, and three NIT games, in 1986 and two games in 2002. The women's team has hosted the first, second and regional rounds of the NCAA Women's Basketball tournament nineteen times, most recently in 2003.

The TAC also serves as the home of the Louisiana Tech Woman's Volleyball team since the program's inception in 1987.

NBA greats such as Karl Malone, P.J. Brown, Randy White and Paul Millsap have all called the Thomas Assembly Center home during their collegiate careers.

References

Louisiana Tech University

Colleges	Applied and Natural Sciences Business Education Engineering and Science Liberal Arts

Athletics	Football Men's basketball Women's basketball Baseball Softball Track & Field Athletics Hall of Fame Joe Aillet Stadium Independence Stadium Thomas Assembly Center CenturyLink Center J. C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park Squire Creek Lincoln Parish Park Rivalry in Dixie Conference USA

Student life	Tech Band of Pride Hoop Troop The Tech Talk TechTV KLPI Lagniappe

Campus	Main Campus South Campus Enterprise Campus Shreveport-Bossier City Campus Barksdale Campus Cyber Innovation Center Global_Campus Arboretum Hide-Away Park A.E. Phillips Lab School The IDEA Place

People and History	Presidents Faculty Alumni Athletes History Legends and Traditions

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball

Venues	Men's Gymnasium (1925–1952) Memorial Gymnasium (1952–1982) Thomas Assembly Center (1982–present)

Culture & lore	Tech Hoop Troop

People	Head coaches

Seasons	1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15

Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters basketball

Venues	Memorial Gymnasium (1974–1982) Thomas Assembly Center (1982–present)

Culture & lore	Tech Hoop Troop

People	Head coaches

Seasons	1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15

AIAW and NCAA national championships in bold; AIAW and NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

Basketball arenas of Conference USA

Dale F. Halton Arena (Charlotte)
FAU Arena (Florida Atlantic)
FIU Arena (FIU)
Thomas Assembly Center (Louisiana Tech)
Cam Henderson Center (Marshall)
Murphy Center (Middle Tennessee)
UNT Coliseum (North Texas)
Ted Constant Convocation Center (Old Dominion)
Tudor Fieldhouse (Rice)
Reed Green Coliseum (Southern Miss)
Bartow Arena (UAB)
Don Haskins Center (UTEP)
Convocation Center (UTSA)
E. A. Diddle Arena (WKU)

Coordinates: 32°31′56″N 92°39′30″W / 32.5321°N 92.6584°W / 32.5321; -92.6584