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A not-so-fond farewell (for now) to the Pavilion

The crowd inside Villanova's Pavilion was asked to stick around as video screens paid tribute to the building itself, opened in 1986, now closed for renovation until the 2018-19 season. The screens showed highlights through the decades. Villanova players, wearing their latest Big East champion T-shirts, just earned with a Saturday afternoon win over Creighton, laughed at the sight of their coach as a younger man.

The crowd inside Villanova's Pavilion was asked to stick around as video screens paid tribute to the building itself, opened in 1986, now closed for renovation until the 2018-19 season. The screens showed highlights through the decades. Villanova players, wearing their latest Big East champion T-shirts, just earned with a Saturday afternoon win over Creighton, laughed at the sight of their coach as a younger man.

Just before the video, Villanova athletic director Mark Jackson grabbed Jay Wright, took him to halfcourt.

"You have to see this,'' Jackson told him, as Wright related later.

It was suddenly pouring outside, just pelting.

"There was a puddle at halfcourt,'' Wright said. "The roof was leaking. There's a huge puddle. He goes, 'If this had happened five minutes earlier, we would have had to stop the game.' "

Villanova's coach clearly found this kind of hilarious.

"The Pavilion ended with a big puddle at halfcourt,'' Wright said. "This was definitely the building's last day. It had nothing left in it."

How did Wright sell the place to recruits?

"You know what, it's the spirit of this place,'' Wright said. "This building when no one's in it is the ugliest building. But when you put Villanova people in here and it's game night, I think it's the best building in the country."

That's how he sold it anyway. From the back of the stands, it's not so much that you feel as if you're in Newtown Square, more that the framing is so odd, roof dipping down dramatically, not obstructing your view of the court, just making it so the court is practically the only thing you can see.

The place, of course, was originally named for a murderer. Unfair shot? All right, the murder came later, and the name came down.

The school took money that proved to be tainted in so many ways as John du Pont, original building namesake and major benefactor, built a renegade Villanova NCAA wrestling program, quickly shut down, and later shot a man dead.

This place, mind you, has seen a lot of cool stuff. First opponent (and first win): Maryland Terps, February 1986. There were epic games with Providence, plenty with Connecticut, a huge one over Boston College when B.C. was Top 10. There were three head coaches, Massimino, Lappas, Wright. The current head man arrived in 2001-02. UCLA showed up that same season, a classic, 58-57, Wildcats down four to the 15th-ranked Bruins with 90 seconds left, Brooks Sales the hero.

Of course, there are two national title banners in the place, and on Saturday Villanova's seniors lifted their fourth straight Big East regular-season trophy in front of the student section, after the 79-63 victory over Creighton.

The fans stuck around. Villanova fans have a rep for being staid, sitting too much. Plenty of season-ticket holders may be older, but the truth is, most are basketball crazy. Up in the sixth row, first seat overlooking the path Villanova players use coming from the lockerroom, Brad O'Brien was there early. He's had the seats the entire time the building has been open, and actually moved here from North Jersey some years back to be closer to the alma mater, living just off Ithan Avenue. He used to chart every call made by a certain now-retired official, convinced the guy was unfair to 'Nova.

The building itself?

"Disgraceful,'' O'Brien said, noting it didn't even have the required lanes for a regulation indoor track, which kind of defeated the purpose of building a multisport place. That is another Pavilion bottom line: Places that try to satisfy all constituencies rarely satisfy any.

Surely somebody around here will speak on behalf of the building? The architect had sold the committee because he had designed nice facilities for intramurals at Boston College and Georgetown, noted John Stack, now Villanova's vice president for student life, then dean of students. "They didn't have to worry about sight lines and things [at those facilities]. . . . There's no room. You go up top, the heat goes up there, it's hot up there. It's a bad building."

"They're not tearing it down,'' a veteran along press row pointed out. But they will clean it up nicely, for more than the original cost of construction. There won't be more seats, but they may cost more, and they should be far more comfortable, and you'll know you're walking into a place with some special history, and presumably you won't be risking injury to walk up to the top rows, and maybe they'll even spring for an extra bathroom somewhere.

And they'll certainly patch up the roof.

mjensen@phillynews.com

@jensenoffcampus