Seattle University today announced the renewal of a great tradition in Northwest college sports as the school ends a 29-year hiatus from downtown Division I basketball. On Jan. 1, 2009, at 6:30 p.m., the men’s basketball squad returns to KeyArena to take on the last D-I team it played at Seattle Center, Loyola Marymount University.

“It will be a Happy New Year, a milestone for Seattle sports and a great new chapter for Seattle University,” said President Father Stephen Sundborg. “Our student-athletes are now playing at the highest level of intercollegiate competition, raising our athletic program to the level of our academic programs. It will be a lot of fun to see this new era played out in Seattle’s biggest basketball venue.”

SU celebrated its return Monday, Oct. 20, in a KeyArena event featuring Seattle basketball icon and former SU Trustee Lenny Wilkens, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, former SU greats, sports legends, friends and alumni.

While SU officially entered D-I competition with its fall sports, the return of men’s basketball to Seattle Center will be a particularly high-profile addition to the Northwest sports scene. SU will be only the second D-I program in western Washington, joining the University of Washington, and the fifth in the state, with Eastern Washington, Washington State and Gonzaga east of the mountains.

It’s also the return of a historic powerhouse to its ancestral home. Seattle University appeared in 11 NCAA post-season tournaments over four decades and at one time had more players in the NBA than any other single school. Much of SU’s D-I heyday was spent in KeyArena, which opened in 1962 as the Coliseum. Highlights included the only defeat of the Texas Western University Miners during their landmark championship season of 1966. The following year’s Texas Western game was witnessed by 14,253 fans, a longstanding record for college basketball and better than the first of two Beatles shows the previous year.

Seattle University left Division I in 1980. Sundborg is now bringing the school back and stands to be one of the few college presidents to ever take an athletic program from the NAIA to Division I.

SU formally launched its return to Division I sports in May by submitting a detailed roadmap to the NCAA. Steps include adding several sports and creating more than two dozen new athletics positions over four years.

SU’s student-athletes will now compete as Division I Independents, playing a hybrid Division I schedule while observing Division I rules. SU athletes will play a full Division I schedule in 2009-2010, the third year of the transition. While the men's and women's soccer teams will enjoy "fast-track" status and be eligible for NCAA postseason competition in the fall of 2010, the rest of SU's sports, including men's basketball, will have “full active status,” including the chance to qualify for Division I NCAA championships, beginning in the 2012-13 academic year.

Seattle University officials have eagerly anticipated the return to Seattle Center. The current home court, Connolly Center North Court, fits only 1,000 and KeyArena lets SU meet the renewed interest in men’s basketball and attract visiting teams to come play non-conference games.

“Exciting Seattle University basketball games are a tradition under this roof,” said Athletic Director Bill Hogan. “This is one of the best college basketball arenas in the country. Now that we’ll be only the second Division I men’s basketball team in western Washington, we’re looking forward to a lot intense games and rivalries here.”

“I grew up watching Seattle play D-I basketball in KeyArena,” said Joe Callero, men’s basketball coach. “Imagine what a thrill it’s going to be taking this team back to D-I and on this court.”

Fittingly, Loyola Marymount, a fellow Jesuit university, was the opponent for Seattle University’s final Seattle Center home game, played at the old Mercer/Seattle Arena on Feb. 24, 1980. LMU won 86-82. Seattle University last played in the Seattle Coliseum, now KeyArena, on Dec. 15, 1979.

The Loyola Marymount game will be the only one at KeyArena during the 2008-09 season, with the other men’s basketball home games taking place at the Connolly Center. It is expected that most, if not all, men’s basketball home games beginning in the 2009-10 campaign will be at KeyArena. Teams projected to play there include Fresno State and UC Irvine in 2009-10 and Oregon State, Cal Poly, and Portland in 2010-11. The women’s basketball team might also take part in one or two women’s-men’s doubleheaders at KeyArena each season.