IU Indy will name new $110 million arena after Indy civic leader Jim Morris
James T. Morris Arena, which should be completed in two years, will be home to IU Indy basketball and volleyball — and a lot more. Morris, who passed away in June, was a proud Hoosier.
Jim Morris’ name will live on in central Indiana.
IU Indianapolis (formerly known as IUPUI) will name its new $110 million athletics center — which is currently under construction — after the native Hoosier who meant so much to the sports scene Indy enjoys today.
The Indiana University Board of Trustees approved the naming proposal at a meeting held Friday morning at the Alumni Center in Fort Wayne. It was the final item under new business before the meeting concluded.
The new athletics center will be named James T. Morris Arena — and you can imagine this new home for Jaguar basketball and volleyball being referred to as “The Jim” for short.
Quinn Buckner, the longtime TV analyst of the Pacers, is the Board of Trustees chair.
“Like many projects and programs throughout our state, this facility would not have been possible without Jim Morris,” he said in a statement. “The James T. Morris Arena will help recognize his enduring legacy on sports, community and scholarship in our city and our state.”
The trustees approved the project, located on campus south of Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Hall, in mid-June. It’s just north of the NCAA Hall of Champions by the canal in downtown Indy.
It will be a 134,000-square-foot facility with seating for 4,500. It will include locker rooms, training facilities, office space and more. USA Track and Field will also move its headquarters there.
IU Indy is contributing $21 million toward the project and the other $89 million will come from state appropriations, part of the budget for construction of an amateur sports facility.
Construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
The volleyball and women’s basketball teams hold practice and games at The Jungle, inside the nearby natatorium. The men’s basketball team had been playing games at Indiana Farmers Coliseum since joining the Horizon League, but they returned to campus this season for the majority of games until this new arena opens.
“No individual epitomized the idea of service to IU and the city of Indianapolis more than Jim Morris,” IU President Pamela Whitten said. “This recognition is only fitting for our vision of an arena that will serve both the university and the community. It was Jim’s advocacy at the Statehouse that helped propel this project forward, and now generations of IU students and campus visitors will benefit.”
At the men’s basketball team’s home opener on Nov. 4, at the coliseum, they left a courtside seat open to honor Morris and his impact on the community.
Morris, known as a connector with a giant heart, passed away in July at 81 years of age. He attended IU, served multiple stints on the IU Board of Trustees, plus many other distinguished roles.
Morris’ son, Tim, now serves on the Board of Trustees.
It was Donnie Walsh who brought Morris to the Pacers in 2007.
At his Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame induction speech, Pacers owner Herb Simon shared the story of how Morris helped connect Simon to save the team. “He played a most pivotal role in why I'm standing here tonight,” Simon said.
“In a last-ditch effort to save the team, Jim Morris, as a spokesman, the mayor of Indianapolis, and several city leaders, came to see my brother Mel and I about buying the team and keeping it in the city. They thought we'd be the perfect people to do it, and we were so honored that they came to us for help. As I recall, the meeting only lasted 20 or 30 minutes. At the end of it, we owned the team. It's incredible. It's hard to imagine.”
Morris was Mr. Indianapolis.
“Jim was Indiana royalty,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in statement.
“There were a lot of people that got this arena done,” IU Indy athletics director Luke Bosso told FOX 59, “but it was Jim’s vision that started it, and to be able to carry that on as a kid from Indianapolis, we’re going to do it the right way.”
This is a nice touch for IU’s downtown campus. Morris is missed daily by so many in the city and by naming this arena after him, even more sports fans will learn about his contributions to the city, state, and school.
(Disclosure: I’m in my 10th season as the play-by-play voice of Jaguars women’s basketball with games airing on ESPN+)