Kezar Pavilion was the primary home court of San Francisco Dons men's basketball from 1924-58 until Memorial Gymnasium was opened on Dec. 4, 1958. The Dons used the venerable facility to its advantage en route to winning the 1949 National Invitation Tournament championship along with back-to-back NCAA Championships in 1955 and ’56, along with a third consecutive Final Four appearance in the 1956-57 season. The legendary Bill Russell made his collegiate debut for the Dons in Kezar Pavilion on Dec. 1, 1953, scoring 23 points and blocking 13 shots to lead an unranked USF team to a 57-33 victory over 10th-ranked California. Other USF legends such as K.C. Jones, Gene Brown, Mike Farmer, Ross Giudice, Cap Lavin, Don Lofgran and Willie “Woo Woo” Wong, along with coaching greats Pete Newell and Phil Woolpert, all left indelible marks inside Kezar Pavilion.
Sixteen of the Dons’ 60 consecutive victories from 1954-56 came on the Kezar Pavilion hardwood, including win No. 59, a 57-52 triumph over Seattle on Dec. 8, 1956. USF last played a game in Kezar Pavilion on March 4, 1958 when the Dons posted a 69-59 win over Pacific.
Kezar Pavilion, opened in 1924 and owned by the city and county of San Francisco, has a 4,000-seat capacity and is located on the northwest corner of Golden Gate Park at 755 Stanyan Street.
