About the Dee Events Center
The beautiful Dee Events Center is one of the premier basketball facilities in the west and is a building of many uses, including the home for the Weber State men’s and women’s basketball teams. The building has been home to several Big Sky Championships, NCAA Tournaments, and other basketball events, as well as numerous religious and community events.
Prior to the 2012-13 season, a new floor was painted with the new Weber State Athletics logo. In addition, a new state-of-the-art energy efficient lighting system was installed that will allow instant on and off lights.
In 2010-11, a new state-of-the-art Daktronics videoboard, display ring, and scoretable sign were installed along with new basket standards and wall scoreboards.
The Dee Events Center itself has been on national display hosting the annual NCAA Tournament on four different occasions. In 1980, the center hosted the First and Second Rounds. In 1983, it served as the West Regional Final Site with North Carolina State defeating Virginia, 62-61, to advance to and eventually win the NCAA Final Four. In 1986, the Dee Events Center was once again the site of the First and Second Rounds of the tournament. That year Louisville won a pair of games in the DEC on their way to winning the national title. The building was host again to the First and Second Rounds in 1994.
The arena has also been home to eight Big Sky men’s basketball tournaments and two women’s tournaments. The Utah Jazz have played 12 NBA preseason games at the DEC.
The building was built at a cost of 11.3 million dollars, representing the combined efforts and cooperation of students, the university and community members for the development of a functional events facility for the greater Ogden and Weber County area. In addition to those funds provided through student fees and revenue bonds, more than five million dollars was raised from private sources in a variety of memorialization programs. The highlight of the fund drive was the contribution of more than two million dollars from the Lawrence T. Dee and Donnell B. Stewart families.
Ground breaking ceremonies on the forty-three acre site were conducted on March 21, 1975. Dedication ceremonies were held on November 1, 1977, a little more than two and half years after construction was started. The first event in the facility was a men’s basketball game on November 29, 1977, in which Weber State defeated Long Beach State, 99-96 in overtime.
The Dee Events Center can accommodate more than 12,000 spectators in chair-backed seats. The building is not just an athletic facility. The arena also hosts the WSU commencement services each year as well as a variety of campus, religious, and community events. The arena frequently hosts the Utah State High School Basketball Championships as well as numerous graduation ceremonies for area high schools.
The DEC has also been the home of many concerts and other performances throughout the years. Alabama, Clint Black, the Beach Boys, Sawyer Brown, Johnny Cash, Bill Cosby, Kenny G, Chris LeDoux, Imagine Dragons, Fleetwood Mac, Barry Manilow, Bette Midler, David Lee Murphy, Willie Nelson, Collin Raye, LeAnn Rimes, George Strait, Taylor Swift, James Taylor, the New York Philharmonic, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Utah Symphony and Widespread Panic are just some of the many performers to come to the Dee Events Center.
Over the years, the arena has been the site of a circus, tennis and wrestling matches, gatherings by religious groups, and high school basketball championships. Neil Armstrong, Jake Garn, Gordon B. Hinckley, Thomas S. Monson, Jon M. Huntsman, Larry Miller, Christopher Reeve, and John Wooden are just a few of the luminaries who have spoken at the facility.