SAN DIEGO - It would be hard to pinpoint the exact moment when USD Athletics outgrew its old venue for basketball and volleyball, the Sports Center. 

Perhaps it was when fans began hopping fences to sneak in and catch a peek of a sold-out men’s basketball game. Not even Bill Walton could get a seat at gametime for the Toreros’ matchup against LMU in 1990 — the basketball legend tried, but was turned away. There simply wasn’t enough room.

Or maybe it was when an official count of seats in the gymnasium came up 1,000 seats short of the advertised capacity — 1,500 instead of the listed 2,500. A revelation that made sense given the lack of tickets available for a certain hardwood Hall of Famer.

“It definitely was an intimate, small facility,” said USD Senior Associate Director of Athletics for Administration Dan Yourg, who has worked in the school’s athletic department since 1985. “It was a challenging venue to have competition in from the size standpoint for fans. But we made the best of it. The fans were so close to the action, it was probably an intense place for a visiting team to come to.”

But by any account, the Toreros had long been ready for an upgrade. Located on the east corner of campus next to student dormitories and the school’s swimming pool, the Sports Center may have been more befitting of lower level teams than a Division I program in terms of size and amenities. Then-head men’s basketball coach Brad Holland put things bluntly.

“We don’t have a Division I basketball atmosphere in the gym we have,” he told the North County Times in 1999. “The Sports Center was built in 1965 and was never intended to be a Division I building.”

It just became a matter of raising the necessary funds. Though talks of replacing the venue had swirled among university leadership dating back to the 1970s, things did not get serious until 1994, when USD had a new president and a new fundraising directive: the construction of a replacement for the aging Sports Center. At the center of that effort was Brian Fogarty, longtime USD head football coach and Associate Athletic Director for Development.

“(President Hayes) made a new facility a top priority for the university,” Fogarty said. 

Despite now being at the forefront of USD’s to-do list, constructing a new arena would prove to be an ambitious project, requiring millions of dollars in gifts from donors. 

“We had never raised any kind of money like that, it was a huge deal,” recalled Fogarty, who retired from USD in 2017. “In athletics in particular, nothing even came close (to being that ambitious).”

Enter Sidney and Jenny Craig. Successful entrepreneurs and San Diegans who made a fortune selling weight management products together, the couple was courted early on in the process by USD’s fundraising team to sponsor the new building’s naming gift. They soon agreed, and the wheels of progress were set into motion for the most important construction project in USD history up to that point. What represented a monumental donation for the university also served as something of a Christmas gift for the Craigs. 

With more than 80 friends and family members gathered at their home for a holiday party in 1997, Sid surprised his wife and everyone in attendance by announcing that he had made a $10 million gift in her name to sponsor the new athletic venue for USD: the Jenny Craig Pavilion. 

“I was looking for something exciting for Jenny for Christmas, but I wasn't really looking for a $10 million gift,” Sidney Craig jokingly told USD Magazine shortly after making the donation. "This gift was one of those things that just felt right. Jenny has devoted her entire life to fitness and health, and the sports pavilion seemed like a natural tie-in."

While USD had met their goal of securing a naming gift, work remained to be done. Fogarty and his colleagues were tasked with finding donations to cover the remaining costs of the pavilion, which totaled several million dollars. They did so by selling naming rights to anything and everything, including foyers, the weight room, and the backs of seats, with alumni and local philanthropists alike opening their checkbooks to have their names etched into the Toreros’ new home. 

By the fall of 2000, the JCP was nearly complete, and John Martin, USD’s Director of Athletic Facilities at the time, began making the final preparations for the pavilion’s grand opening. 

“We were gonna have a basketball game, a run-through for us,” Martin said. “We had to clean the place up because it had never been used, so we hired a crew of people to go in there and clean it up. We walked down there and when we opened the back door, a huge cloud of dust poured out. Instead of vacuuming, as we asked, they were using dust rags. You could hardly see across the building, there was so much dirt in the air. We had to let them get out…and vacuum.”

But when the dust settled on a furious fundraising campaign and a historic construction project in Alcala Park, the University of San Diego had itself a shining new venue, one that still serves as a centerpiece for both athletics and campus events. The doors opened for the very first time on Oct. 5, 2000 - 20 years ago today.

“What a monumental change from the Sports Center,” Martin said as he reflected on his first time setting foot in the newly completed JCP. “Going from (the Sports Center) to the JCP was like moving into the Taj Mahal. It just tied everything together. It’s more than an athletic building, it’s really an important building.”

***

Eight years after the Jenny Craig Pavilion opened its ornate, Spanish Renaissance-inspired doors to the public for the first time, the venue came alive in a way it seldom had before. The year 2008 saw the JCP host the men’s and women’s West Coast Conference basketball tournaments, with the pavilion packed to the gills full of Torero fans who delighted in both teams’ thrilling runs through the bracket. 

It was the fourth time USD and the JCP hosted the postseason basketball tournament in the building’s short life - the men’s basketball team won the tournament in 2003 on the JCP court - but the 2008 edition was monumental for both the men’s and women’s basketball programs at the same time.

Gyno Pomare remembers the week well. The 6-foot-8 forward dropped 14 points in the championship against rival Gonzaga and was in the game when the final seconds ticked off the clock in the Toreros’ 69-62 win over the Bulldogs. He was on the floor when the student section vaulted over the rail and stormed the court for the third time that week, turning the hardwood into a sea of Torero Blue as USD celebrated a berth to the NCAA Tournament. A night when the party spilled over into the heart of the JCP, and students ended up exactly where they were and weren’t supposed to be, all at the same time. 

“The fans stormed the court after the (semifinal) game, and I’m like, ‘Guys, guys, relax, we have to get one more,” Pomare said with a laugh. “The feeling of having that environment and the buzz around the Jenny Craig Pavilion was something I had never experienced that frequently or at that level. When we beat Gonzaga, that was just the greatest feeling I’ve ever felt. We have a good, faithful fan base. To have it there for them, it did mean a lot. It was just really special.”

The tournament — which was the last before the WCC moved to a neutral site for its basketball championships — was made even more special when the Torero women won a conference title and earned an NCAA Tournament bid of their own. 

“It was just a very special moment in the history of the pavilion,” USD women’s basketball head coach Cindy Fisher recalled. “It was just an incredible, incredible feeling to win something like that, but actually be on your home floor at the same time and have your friends and family and so many fans around that got to celebrate that with us.”

It marked one of the most eventful seasons in the pavilion’s history.  

But no program has had more success in the “Slim Gym” than head volleyball coach Jennifer Petrie’s. Now in her 22nd year with the Toreros, Petrie has been around long enough to have coached in both the Sports Center and the JCP. Though she shared her colleagues’ desire for a larger facility back in the late 1990s, Petrie’s team had a different gripe with the Sports Center.

“The ceiling is just way too low,” Petrie said. “Although it was a little bit of a home court advantage to learn how to play off of the ceiling, it’s not what you’re hoping for in a volleyball game.”

More than two decades later, the JCP has done more than just raise the roof for her program. The building has helped Petrie and her players elevate USD volleyball to national prominence, with the Toreros reaching the NCAA Tournament in 18 of the 20 seasons they have played in the pavilion so far.

“It was really hard to walk athletes into the Sports Center and have them feel that collegiate, Division I desire that they had been hoping for,” Petrie said. “But when they walk into the JCP, it’s already there, it’s what their vision is of an elite program. The JCP is a tremendous asset for our program.”

***

Twenty years in, it could be argued that the Jenny Craig Pavilion is just now hitting its stride. The last two decades have seen the pavilion host championships and concerts (trivia: the Wallflowers were the first ever concert held there in November 2000); commencements and convocations. In 2012, USD welcomed the Dalai Lama to campus, and His Holiness graced the Slim Gym with a visit for a speaking engagement. 

It’s been a busy start to the JCP’s existence so far, yet there’s one big compliment the pavilion consistently receives from USD insiders and the general public alike:

“It still looks the same, and feels the same as it did in 2000,” said USD men’s basketball head coach Sam Scholl, who played in the Sports Center during his Torero playing career but coached in the JCP on the USD bench for 12 years so far. “Our facilities staff do an amazing job of keeping it feeling like it’s brand new. I’ve had several recruits that we bring through there that go like, ‘How old is this building?’ And when you tell them 20 years, they have a little bit of a shock.”

Josh Lawrence, USD’s Senior Associate Director of Athletics for Facilities and Operations, has been in charge of keeping the JCP feeling brand new since 2003. He and his staff are tasked with maintaining the pavilion’s 5,100 seats, two video boards, and everything else it takes to host three Division I teams. 

Though he describes the court being stormed as his “worst nightmare” from a logistical standpoint, Lawrence has successfully guided the JCP through nearly twenty years of big moments, both inside and outside the world of athletics. Lawrence takes pride not only in the high quality of the arena, but in how that standard is achieved.  

“I love that what we do in the pavilion and in our facilities, we do with student employees,” Lawrence said. “I have a full-time staff in a variety of areas…but our main force to get the work done is from the students who go to school here. And I think that’s a special piece, to have your staff be reflective of the university.”

***

Bill Walton does not have trouble getting into USD basketball games anymore. The lanky Hall of Famer can sometimes be found courtside, broadcasting as USD proudly showcases its program and facility on national television. 

Nor does Jennifer Petrie’s team have to worry about volleyballs hitting the ceiling. The vaulted roof of the pavilion is more than tall enough for both sky-high passes and championship banners. 

And the JCP’s capacity has never been counted as anything other than 5,100. Though each and every seat has been filled for big games, the athletic department staff certainly will not ever come up short if they decide to re-tally the pavilion’s capacity like they did in the Sports Center. 

Pomare, who played professionally for more than a decade in several different countries after leaving USD, returned to the JCP for a game last fall. During a TV timeout, he strode to half court and accepted a ceremonial basketball as part of USD’s Torero Legends promotion. Though the cheering fans remained in the stands this time instead of rushing onto the hardwood like they did in 2008, the memories and friendships he made in the pavilion remained just as strong.

“The JCP is always home for me,” said Pomare, who left USD as the program’s all-time leading scorer. “The gym itself, I love walking in there, it’s a beautiful gym. But the people that are there always welcome me back with open arms.”

A sentiment that is shared with countless other Torero athletes, coaches, and fans alike.

“It’s the building that we spend the most time in on one of the most beautiful campuses in America,” Scholl added. “Being Toreros, it’s our home. You take tremendous pride in competing in your home, developing in your home, and protecting your home.”

Though the NCAA has selected November 25 as the new start date for the 2020-2021 men and women’s basketball seasons, schedules have not yet been set, and nobody knows when games could be open to spectators. What promised to be an action-packed 20th year for the pavilion has now been muted, for the time being, by the pandemic. 

In recent months, Fisher has found herself spending time in the building even when she doesn’t have to be, pondering what could be next in the pavilion opposite thousands of empty seats.

“There have been times during this pandemic that I’ve come up here and just sat in the JCP by myself,” Fisher said. “Memories coming back, and just looking forward to the future. It’s our home away from home.”

Until games resume and fans are welcomed back, the JCP will wait quietly, biding its time until the next big moment in the Slim Gym comes around, until the next volleyball kill or slam dunk, until the next time a musician plays the first note of a concert or a USD graduate receives their diploma. Until the next time the Bull Pit streams onto the court and celebrates an important win.

“It’s the most comfortable place to be a spectator and to view a match or any event,” said Petrie, perhaps the most successful coach in the pavilion’s history. “It’s comfortable and inviting, and I’m sure people would love to sit down and take in a good sporting event.”

“There’s not a bad seat in the house.”

USD Athletics and the University of San Diego would like to thank all of the donors, supporters and Torero fans who have made the Jenny Craig Pavilion a special place for the last 20 years for the hundreds of scholar-athletes who have played and trained in the timeless facility.