LAWRENCE, Kan. — Cathedral, mecca, sacred — just a few words used to describe the iconic Allen Fieldhouse.
The players and coaches that have passed through those doors in Lawrence, bringing home national championship trophies like the University of Kansas men's basketball team's Monday night historic win over North Carolina, is something Warren Corman knows is iconic.
"The tradition, it's an iconic building because of tradition," Corman, one of the architects of Allen Fieldhouse, said.
Creating the mystique that is Allen Fieldhouse started with Corman and his five colleagues in 1950. He is the last living architect of The Phog.
"I remember the papers said, 'They'll never find it, it's so far out in the field and it's so dang big they'll never fill it,'" Corman said.
But they did fill it and over the years, it would be cemented in history as the center of college basketball.
"It's because you think back to the players, Wilt Chamberlain, Jo Jo White, Danny Manning, and they're just, it's unbelievable," Corman said.
Monday night's national championship game was a nail-biter, but Corman said he had faith in the team.
"Oh, gee. It was just unbelievable," Corman said. "I never gave up on 'em."
And he has faith many more championship banners will be hung in Allen Fieldhouse, a building that has stood the test of time.
"We thought we were designing it to last forever," Corman said. "And I think it will. It's 70 years now."
