All about the Passion
Mac Rating: 5.00 | Votes: 1 | Date: 03/07/2026 01:11:00

The women's basketball team went 245-44 in this building - a .848 winning percentage that made a 3,000-seat campus gym one of the most feared home courts in the Big East. McGrath-Phillips Arena, inside DePaul University's Sullivan Athletic Center at 2323 North Sheffield Avenue in Chicago's Lincoln Park, opened in May 2000. The building replaced a legend: the Sullivan Athletic Center - originally the DePaul Athletic Center, renamed in 2006 - succeeded Alumni Hall as the home of Blue Demons athletics, housing the athletic department alongside the arena that carries the McGrath and Phillips family names. The tenancy has evolved with the program: the men's team split home dates here until the 10,387-seat Wintrust Arena opened downtown in 2017 and still practices in the building; the women's team played full-time at McGrath-Phillips from 2000 to 2021 - the Doug Bruno era at its height - before moving its home schedule to Wintrust, returning for select dates and events. The court honours its architect: the floor was named Doug Bruno Court in 2010 for the coach whose four-decade tenure built DePaul women's basketball into a perennial NCAA Tournament program, with the volleyball team playing every home match in the room since it opened. The hosting resume runs deep for its size: the arena staged the 2002 Conference USA women's tournament, 2007 NIT and 2019 CBI games - a 3,000-seat room punching at postseason weight thanks to sightlines that put every seat on top of the floor. Practical notes: the Fullerton L stop - Red, Brown and Purple lines - is a short walk through the heart of the Lincoln Park campus; volleyball dates are free-flowing and family-priced, women's basketball returns to the room for non-conference dates most seasons, and the compact bowl means arriving at tip-off still gets a good seat except for marquee opponents.

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