William Neal Reynolds Coliseum is a multi-purpose arena located in Raleigh, North Carolina, on the campus of North Carolina State University. The arena was built to host a variety of events, including agricultural expositions and NC State basketball games. It is now home to all services of ROTC and several Wolfpack teams, including women's basketball, women's volleyball, women's gymnastics, and men's wrestling. The university named the court in Reynolds "Kay Yow Court" on February 16, 2007 with the assistance of a substantial donation from the Wolfpack Club. That same night, the Wolfpack women upset #2 North Carolina, just two weeks after the men upset #3 North Carolina at the PNC Arena.
NC State alumnus David Clark originally petitioned for the construction of the arena in 1940 after rain had ruined a North Carolina Farmers' Week meeting held in an outdoor facility. The North Carolina General Assembly approved plans for the coliseum. A steel shortage threatened to delay the construction of the coliseum. However, because the proposed coliseum was also to be used as an armory, the "steel for the structure received a defense priority." Construction began in 1942. The foundation work and structural steel support system was completed by 1943 but construction was stopped due to US involvement in World War II. After the war the university was preoccupied with the building of housing and classroom facilities and the unfinished coliseum was left untouched until construction resumed in 1948. The arena was completed the following year and named in honor of William Neal Reynolds (1863-1951) of Winston-Salem.
The arena was originally intended to seat 10,000 people, but while the building was still under construction, newly hired head basketball coach Everett Case urged the administration to add an additional 2,400 seats, bringing capacity to 12,400. This was accomplished by expanding the structure at each end. It was the largest arena in the Southeast for many years.
The first men's basketball game was played on December 2, 1949, against Washington & Lee University. NC State defeated Washington and Lee, 67-47. Not all the seats had been installed at that time and many fans had to sit on the "cement tiers." The first women's basketball game was played on December 7, 1974. Men's basketball moved to the Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena in 1999. The Wolfpack men have played a December regular-season "heritage" game at Reynolds Coliseum in recent years, and the arena hosted 2019 NIT first and second-round games against Hofstra and Harvard on March 19 and March 24.
Reynolds was the original site of the ACC men's basketball tournament from 1954 to 1966, the Dixie Classic tournament from 1949 to 1960, and the Southern Conference men's basketball tournament (1951-1953). It has hosted the NCAA men's basketball tournament as a Regional site eight times, and as a subregional (first and second round games) four times. It has also hosted the women's basketball tournament eleven times, only one of which was a regional site. The ACC women's basketball tournament was held there twice, in 1979 and 1982. March 1982, in fact, was a very busy month for the arena: it hosted the ACC women's tournament, NCAA men's subregional, and NCAA women's regional all in succession.
