“The Individual in American Society,” and Stokely Carmichael on “The Individual and Black Power.” The other socially momentous event occurred in Fall of 1967 when Vanderbilt's Perry Wallace broke the Southeastern Conference (SEC) racial barrier as the first African-American athlete. Host for post-season college basketball Memorial Gym has hosted the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship on four occasions (1973 regionals, 1982/1989/1993 first- and second-round games). It has also served as home to the 1984 and 1991 SEC Men's Basketball tournaments. In the 1984 tournament, Charles Barkley's "sitting at midcourt" episode occurred after his Auburn Tigers were beaten in the tournament championship by the Kentucky Wildcats. In 1991, Alabama won the championship 88–69 over Tennessee. It has served as an NCAA women's basketball tournament host site 12 times (first- and/or second-round games in 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2001, 2002, 2006, and 2012, plus regionals in 1998). Then-Florida State coach Pat Kennedy complained about the arrangement after his team lost a first-round NCAA Tournament game there. The NCAA has used the newer Bridgestone Arena, a larger arena with a modern configuration in downtown Nashville, for first- and second-round men's tournament games on four more recent occasions (2000, 2003, 2005, 2012) instead of Memorial Gym. Renovations and recent history In recent years the facility has been modernized; the addition of a press box, suites, and other amenities have reduced the seating capacity somewhat. The facility is favored by many basketball purists as an example of a facility designed primarily for that sport—although it also at times housed other facilities for the Vanderbilt athletic operation, such as a swimming pool—and has been called the "Fenway Park of College Basketball." Memorial Gym was the site of the Jeff Lacy versus Jermain Taylor WBC super middleweight elimination bout on November 15, 2008, the first time that the gym had hosted a major professional boxing event. The undercard of this fight also saw future WBC Heavyweight World Champion Deontay Wilder make his professional debut. See also List of NCAA Division I basketball arenas References External links The Magic of Memorial is Historical- Part I The Magic of Memorial is Historical- Part II Memorial Gym official homepage Memorial Gym Seating Chart - with clickable Points-of-View Vanderbilt Commodores basketball Sports venues in Nashville, Tennessee College basketball venues in the United States Basketball venues in Tennessee 1952 establishments in Tennessee Sports venues completed in 1952