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Huff Hall
Huff Hall is a versatile multi-use facility and is home to Fighting Illini volleyball, wrestling and men's and women's gymnastics. Huff is known for creating the circus-like atmosphere that fostered the term "March Madness" when it was the longtime home of the Illinois State High School Association state basketball tournament.
Huff also houses a training room, a weight room, equipment rooms and locker rooms (used by the men's and women's track & field, volleyball and wrestling teams) in the basement, as well as many academic offices and classrooms on the first, second and third floors. Additionally, athletes can access the 200-meter indoor track at the Armory via an underground tunnel that connects the two buildings.
Huff Hall is named for longtime Illinois Athletic Director and coach George Huff. Huff served as Illinois' Athletic Director from 1901 to 1935, during a time in which the Fighting Illini athletic programs enjoyed unparalleled success. Huff was also the driving force behind the construction of Memorial Stadium in 1923.
Prior to Huff's tenure as athletic director, he served as head football coach from 1895 to 1899 and baseball skipper from 1896 to 1919. Known by many of his close friends and business associates as "G," Huff served as manager of the Boston Red Sox in 1907.
Originally called the "New Gymnasium," Huff Hall was designed in the Georgian-Revival Style by Charles A. Platt and University Architect James M. White. The building's architecture matches that of the Armory, Main Library, the Union, and other campus buildings. At the conclusion of its $772,000 construction in 1925, Huff Hall replaced the Military Drill Hall (now known as Kenney Gym Annex) as the home for Fighting Illini basketball. The "New Gymnasium" was renamed Huff Hall in 1937 following the longtime athletic director's passing.
Illinois athletics has enjoyed a proud athletic tradition in the gymnasium at Huff Hall. Huff Hall served as home for Illinois basketball from 1925 to 1963, when the Fighting Illini cagers won 339 out of 418 games (.811), eight Big Ten championships, and earned two NCAA Final Four appearances. Even though it was more than twice the size of the old Drill Hall where Illinois had previously played, it was realized soon after construction that the building was too small to hold all the
In 1925, a writer for Illinois Alumni News stated, "It seems high time that the Stadium (referring to Memorial Stadium) be roofed over for basketball. We can't imagine any other way to get in all the customers." The Illinois basketball team played to raucous capacity crowds for nearly 40 years while at Huff Hall, forcing some fans to wait several years to obtain tickets.
The gymnasium in Huff Hall has hosted its fair share of championships at the collegiate and high school levels over the years. In 1940 and 1947, the Fighting Illini hosted the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Huff Hall. In 1930, 1933, 1946, 1948 and 1958, the Big Ten Wrestling Championships came to Huff. Not to be outdone, the IHSA used the gymnasium at Huff Hall for nine of its state wrestling tournaments in the 1940's, 1950's and 1960's, prior to the championships moving down Fourth Street to State Farm Center.
Huff Hall also served as host for the 1991, 1995 and 2003 Big Ten Women's Gymnastics Championships; the 1992, 1995 and 2004 Big Ten Men's Gymnastics Championships; and was the site of the 1993 and 1999 NCAA Men's Gymnastics East Regional.
Huff Hall has played host to many NCAA volleyball tournament matches, beginning with the 1992 first round and regional volleyball matches. Huff would go on to be the site of a 1994 NCAA first-round volleyball match, a 1995 NCAA second-round volleyball match, and the first and second rounds of the 1998, 2001, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2018 NCAA Volleyball Tournaments. The first and second rounds of the 1997 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament were also played in the gymnasium at Huff Hall.
