Kokomo (5,200) Built 1948
February 16, 2024: Anderson vs. Kokomo (Boys)
February 16, 2024: Anderson vs. Kokomo (Boys)
How do you measure success in the most high school basketball-crazed state in the country? People in Muncie would probably argue you should simply look at state titles. Anderson residents may tell you to consider who has the richest traditions. Indianapolis Attucks or Milan fans will probaby tell you to think about which teams had the biggest cultural impact. Kokomo Kats may point to the measuring stick most associated with Hoosier Hysteria, the sectional. Kokomo has won more of them than anyone, 76 to be exact. The Indiana state basketball tournament has only been around for 113 years, and a few of those first seasons didn't even have a sectional round. Sectionals championships are a little easier to come by now in the class era, but the fact that they have made it out of the round of the tournament that holds the most mystique and community pride at about a 75% clip is absurd. They've also enjoyed the majority of this run in the gold standard of Indiana basketball cathedrals.
If you walk into Memorial Gymnasium from the "main" side facing the gorgeous old Kokomo High School building next door, the first thing you see are the two tiny concession windows at either end of a long hall. The next thing you notice is a big room in the middle of the hall that is very out of place for a high school gym. It houses a memorial to World War II veterans. One side of the room is roped off and features furniture and a scene that matches the era in which the war was fought and the gym was built. The other end has a reverent homage to three notable veterans from Howard County who fought in the war. You'll also find the stuffed Wildkat mascot that's wheeled out to center court during warmups each game. It's definitely unique, but takes you back to the prominent time in our country's history when the gym was built.
Along this same main corridor are a plethora of old photos and displays honoring past Kokomo greats, both on the boys and girls basketball teams. They're time capsules of different eras of Wildkat basketball, and I could've spent the entire JV game just looking through them. Kokomo has had a multitude of Indiana All-Stars, and there are two large displays paying tribute to them, one for the boys and one for the girls. The quarters are very tight in the surrounding hallways as they usually are in stand alone gym buildings from pre-1960, and you have to crane your neck to see a lot of the displays while avoiding the crowds squeezing past, but they really do a great job of capturing the history and legacy of the programs.
If you like stairs, I cannot stress how much you are going to enjoy this gym. There are stairs everywhere you look going different directions at different angles. It's the basketball gym version of that MC Escher painting that hung outside every high school art room growing up. There is a ramp leading down to the court level from the main corridor, but then there are stairs that lead to the third deck along with a seperate set that lead to the second deck as well. This is all just to get into the gym. Once you're in the gym, you can look around the home side of the gym and find any number of stairs going straight up, or even sideways to different little levels within the same section of bleachers. It's truly a maze to navigate your way around that side of the gym, and its fascinating to look at from a distance and take it all in. The stairs never stop, and neither do the little intricacies that make this place so grand.
The crown jewel of Memorial Gym is the home side of bleachers. It has three distinct levels of seating, which I've never experienced anywhere else. The bottom level has about 12 rows of your typical plastic retractable bleachers in Wildkat blue (the plastic bleachers that are used here are the least offensive I've encountered anywhere, largely due to their color). The middle section is where it starts to get weird. In the center at the very bottom are two long rows that you kind of have to step down into. Then there are permanent bleachers with plastic coverings on them (think McCutcheon but blue) that work their way up. There are also four entrances from the concourse that open up into this section much like a baseball stadium. The bleachers work around these throughout the section. Right up against some of those openings are a column of single bleacher seats. Absolutely wild. These long rows lead to the upper corners of the gyms. Here are some prehistoric looking permanent bleachers that face the court at an angle. There are a couple obstructed sightlines from this section which obviously isn't great but harkens back to a time when that was common in many gyms and you just kind of dealt with it. The third level is what really puts this gym over the top. You have to wind through stairs going every which way just to reach it, and once you're there, you feel like you're on another planet. I almost forgot to mention the cutest little sections removable bleachers sitting right in front of the stairs to this level on both sides. They really utilize every square inch on this side of the gym. The backwall at the very top features those beautiful, old, frosty, glass windows made up of tiny squares. In the very corners are tiny little sections of seats above the stairwell that leads to the third level. The unique sightlines in this gym are just different. I cannot get enough of them.
The rest of the seating in the gym isn't nearly as unique, but it's still big, and it's still well put together. Each baseline features two levels with about 6 rows of retractable plastic bleachers that match the bottom section on the home side. On one end they house both the pep band and the student section. The sideline side behind the team benches has much more standard sections of retractable bleachers that go up about 25 rows between the two levels. In the upper level on this side, there is a hardwood floor underneath that would presumabley be used for practices when the bleachers are rolled up. There are actually old permanent hoops on the walls right behind the bleachers. I'm not sure how they could be used with a giant section of bleachers sitting right in front of them, but maybe I'm missing something obvious there.
The wall and ceiling hangings throughout the gym are on par with the greatness displayed everywhere else. Hanging along the ceiling on one baseline are giant banners honoring old state championship and runner-up teams. There are two more even bigger ones oddly hiding against one wall up in the third deck of bleachers. Also along that baseline wall is " Home of the Kats" in really nice red script with blue trim. They also have cool Indiana state map decals with the rosters of their state championship teams on the baseline walls next to murals of Wildkat players. The opposing baseline wall houses the NCC conference team banners which are a little underwhelming but at least are different in style compared to other basic ones I've seen. Also in this section is a very weird little square platform overhanging the court that looks like someone is supposed to stand in. I would love to know what its use was. The only hanging feature I'm not a big fan of is the new, giant jumbotron they installed a few years ago. I'm not against jumbotrons, (I love Westview's) but I am against any kind of scoreboard that is just a big video screen. They take away from the ambiance. I hate them. This one is a monstrosity.
Last but not certainly least on the list to talk about is the hardwood floor itself. I could be wrong, but it looks like it hasn't been refinished or at least redesigned since before 1990. It is absolutely stunning. It's missing that new glossy finish that modern floors have (and I even like in many cases). It all looks worn in the most beautiful way. The plain "WILDKATS" along the baseline, simple "NCC" and beautfiul "Memorial Gymnasium" scripts are perfection. The old school wildkat logo creeping around the "K" at center court is magnificently understated. I love everything about it and pray they never change it.
The first time I ever came to Kokomo to watch a basketball game was when my cousin was playing in a semistate championship there in 2006. I would have been 11. All I can remember is looking across the gym and seeing those stadium style stair entrances into the second deck. I was awestruck as a kid. It was a lot to take in. I came back for the first time in 2021 and basically felt all those same emotions. This gym is stunning visually. It's quirky in all the right ways. It's huge. It's the perfect conduit for an electric atmosphere on a snowy night when two teams are playing for the championship of the most historic athletic conference in the state. It's special, and I hope it stays that way for a really long time.
