Mason-Halpin Field House recently celebrated its 75th anniversary on the Rockhurst University campus. The historic venue was dedicated on Dec. 28, 1938, honoring the memory of legendary Rockhurst coaches Pat Mason and Eddie Halpin.
Mason was a star athlete at Rockhurst and was in the school's first graduating class in 1921. He went on to coach basketball, football and baseball at Rockhurst until his death at the age of 39 from a diabetic condition in 1938. Two years earlier, Halpin's life was cut short at the age of 33 from an appendicitis attack. Halpin, a two-sport standout at the University of Kansas, coached football and basketball under Mason at Rockhurst.
Over the past 75 years, Mason-Halpin has played host to hundreds of exciting NAIA and NCAA men's and women's college basketball games and women's volleyball matches. The Hawks have provided several generations of Rockhurst students and alumni with many great moments in the 1,500-seat venue.
The first basketball game ever broadcast on television in Kansas City was played at Mason-Halpin between Rockhurst and the University of Kansas in 1949. Numerous top teams from around the country, like three-time NAIA national champion Tennessee State, played at the Field House in the 1950s. Home games against Missouri-Kansas City and Benedictine drew the largest crowds for more than 35 years.
Mason-Halpin became one of the most popular sporting venues in the city during the 1960s when the Hawks dominated the hardwood under legendary coach Joe Brehmer. The Hawks captured the NAIA national championship in 1964 in downtown Kansas City. Ten days later, Rockhurst lost by one point to the NAIA Olympic All-Star team at Mason-Halpin.
Several professional basketball teams in Kansas City played or practiced at Mason-Halpin. The Kansas City Kings often used the field house as their training facility during their NBA run in Kansas City from 1972-85. The 1962 championship game in the American Basketball League, featuring the Kansas City Steers and Cleveland Pipers, was played at Mason-Halpin in April of 1962. The short-lived Kansas City Hi-Spots played their final game in the National Professional Basketball League at the Field House in January of 1951.
Over the past 10 years, Mason-Halpin has been graced with the likes of some of the top NCAA Division I teams in the country. North Carolina, Kansas, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Texas A&M, Iowa State and Kansas State have practiced at the field house during March Madness.
Rockhurst students were treated to a dunk fest by Oklahoma's Blake Griffin in 2009 before the Sooners played in the NCAA Tournament at the Sprint Center. When Wisconsin practiced at Rockhurst prior to the 2013 NCAA Tournament, one of the Badger players took a picture of Mason-Halpin, which he tweeted with the message: "One of the cool parts of NCAA tourneys is seeing hidden gem gyms around the country like Rockhurst U."
Mason-Halpin has also hosted commencements, masses, concerts and presidential rallies. Reknowned poet Robert Frost was a guest lecturer at Mason-Halpin in 1959. Democratic presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey gave a campaign speech at Rockhurst during the 1968 election. Former CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite spoke at the 1971 Convocation in the Field House.
