Pauley Pavilion

It seemed to be a daunting task when UCLA announced plans to drag the aging and architecturally troublesome Pauley Pavilion into the 21st century. Now comes a seemingly more complex undertaking -- the point system administrators have created to determine the pecking order by which fans get to choose their seats.

Can the house that Kareem built become the home that Shabazz renovated? Pauley Pavilion, rather the new Pauley Pavilion, is on schedule to reopen with a $136-million renovation by mid-October, an athletic department official said during a media tour of the arena on Friday. The refurbished digs will be inhabited by a highly publicized recruiting class, as was the case when Pauley Pavilion opened in 1965. The difference this time is that the incoming freshmen can play for the Bruins.

It was a perfect setting inside Pauley Pavilion, strands of blue and gold balloons stretching toward the ceiling, the school band striking up a tune. As UCLA administrators announced last week that their aging arena would finally get a makeover, there was no hint of discord or controversy. No one mentioned that a longtime university supporter had opposed the chosen design -- and had been ousted as head of a volunteer fundraising committee.

UCLA says farewell to the Sports Arena on Saturday and probably won't shed any tears about leaving the 52-year-old facility. Oh, UCLA players say the right things about the place. "It was all right," forward David Wear said when asked about the place that served as the Bruins' main home while Pauley Pavilion was being renovated. But Wear, a sophomore, had to be honest. "I am definitely looking forward to getting back to Pauley," he said. "I'm not going to miss playing in the Sports Arena or staying in a hotel downtown the night before a home game.

The state of California, the University of California system and UCLA are making difficult decisions to prioritize their needs in line with available funds in these tough economic times. Such fiscal discipline should extend to the renovation of Pauley Pavilion.

A good day for the UCLA basketball program started before players even took the court. Hours before the tip-off against Arizona State, the Bruins athletic department received two unexpected donations of $100,000 each for the upcoming renovation of Pauley Pavilion. Ross Bjork, a senior associate athletic director, said the gifts were part of a recent uptick that has pushed fundraising for the project to almost $62 million. "There's a buzz around the arena," Bjork said. "Lots of activity."

The color drawings depict a sleek, modernized arena, complete with terra cotta accents along the facade, a grand lobby and row after row of new seats. But as UCLA officials unveiled their vision for an updated Pauley Pavilion on Monday afternoon, filling in blanks about a proposed $185-million project, an equally important question lurked in the not-so-distant future.

UCLA next vs. Arizona, Saturday at Pauley Pavilion, 1 p.m., Prime Ticket ? The final game at Pauley Pavilion before the facility closes for interior renovations could have Pacific 10 Conference title implications for the Bruins and the Wildcats. Arizona outclassed UCLA with its superior quickness and athleticism last month during an 85-74 victory in Tucson in which sophomore forward Derrick Williams scored 22 points. ? Ben Bolch

Defending champion Edison will be among 55 high school volleyball teams competing Saturday in the UCLA Tournament of Champions at Pauley Pavilion. Also competing will be Marina, Mission Viejo, Ocean View, La Quinta, El Toro, Laguna Hills and Dana Hills. The pool-play tournament starts at 9 a.m., with the finals tentatively scheduled for 8 p.m.

UCLA officials have decided not to use all of the $25 million in student fees that they were planning to spend on a $185-million renovation of Pauley Pavilion, home of the school's legendary basketball team. Vice Chancellor Steven A. Olsen said in a letter to The Times that $15 million of the student funds would go to other uses. The letter followed a Sunday article detailing how, in a time of crippling budget cuts, administrators throughout the state have tapped funds meant for classrooms and student services to help pay for ill-timed land deals, loans to high-ranking officials and, at UCLA, the Pauley renovation.

Earlier this week, a homeless man curled up on a bench outside an entrance at UCLA's new basketball headquarters. Cleaning and maintenance crews milled about inside, where fresh blue paint provided new trim on a 52-year-old facade. Worn seats were vacant, exposing a lower bowl awash in the color of the Bruins' archrival. Home sweet home? It's the closest thing for now. UCLA will play most of its home games this season at the Sports Arena — in the shadow of USC — while Pauley Pavilion undergoes a $136-million makeover intended to transform it into one of the top facilities in the country.

A checklist for UCLA's first basketball scrimmage could go something like this: See where sophomore center Josh Smith is in his conditioning. Evaluate the battles for the starting spots at shooting guard and small forward. Make sure the Bruins' 11 NCAA championship banners are hung straight inside the Sports Arena. UCLA gets the first taste of its new "home" at 4 p.m. Thursday when it plays host to Cal State Fullerton in a closed scrimmage. The Bruins will play 14 of their 18 home games this season at the Sports Arena while Pauley Pavilion undergoes renovations; their other home games will be played at Honda Center.

UCLA might as well wear throwback jerseys throughout a season that figures to have a retro feel. The Bruins are practicing in the creaky men's gymnasium on campus and will play most of their home games at the 52-year-old Sports Arena while Pauley Pavilion undergoes renovations. Coach Ben Howland has already gushed about practicing near a chalkboard that the legendary John Wooden used during the 1964-65 season, the last in which UCLA regularly practiced in the men's gym and called the Sports Arena home.

UCLA students tallied the first victory of the new Pauley Pavilion era Tuesday when Athletic Director Dan Guerrero announced they would continue to have sideline floor seating inside the renovated arena. It was a come-from-behind triumph for the students, who in an advisory vote last week as part of undergraduate student elections overwhelmingly rejected the athletic department's plans to move all students behind one basket. "I'm thrilled," said Sean Wang, a graduate student in statistics who was instrumental in getting the advisory vote on the student ballot.

It is where John F. Kennedy won the 1960 Democratic presidential nomination and where basketball once ruled — the Lakers, Clippers, Bruins and Trojans all called it home for a time. The NHL's Kings did too. And it once was a rock cathedral Bruce Springsteen hailed as "the joint that don't disappoint. " Yet even as the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena moves inexorably toward demolition, its oblong roofline still framed by that blazing candy-green ribbon of light, UCLA basketball will soon be back inside its doors.

UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero said he was "extremely disappointed" by an anonymous Bruins alumnus' plan to sell a center court section of the original Pauley Pavilion in an Internet auction next month. The 12-foot-diameter jump circle is being sold by SCP Auctions, which fetched $2.8 million for a Honus Wagner baseball card and $1.265 million for the bat Babe Ruth used to hit the first home run in Yankee Stadium. Bidding will take place from April 15 to 30 on scpauctions.com.

It was not a perfect day. Sean Farnham also got an elbow in the second half from Washington's Thalo Green that by the end of the game had turned the corner of his left eye flint colored. Other than that, though: Farnham started in his final home game as a Bruin, his sixth consecutive game opening at power forward. He got loud ovations during Senior Day ceremonies and during the pregame announcement of lineups. He scored a basket.

UCLA, winner of five of its last six basketball games--even if Coach Walt Hazzard wasn't impressed with all of the victories--will play Stanford tonight at 7:30 in Pauley Pavilion. The Cardinal went 19-10 last season, including a 75-64 victory over the Bruins at Stanford, and made the National Invitation Tournament. Coach Tom Davis, however, lost guard Keith Jones, who averaged 20 points a game, and center John Revelli, his second leading scorer at 17.9, and top rebounder at 7.9. Now Dr.

No. 3 UCLA (27-4) vs. No. 14 Montana (18-14) SATURDAY, 3:30 P.M., AT SPOKANE, WASH. TV: ESPN2 How they got here: UCLA finished second in the Pacific 10 Conference behind Stanford, which defeated the Bruins three times, including in the conference tournament championship game; Montana earned an automatic bid after winning the Big Sky Conference tournament. Last 10 games: UCLA, 8-2; Montana, 7-3. Best wins/worst losses: UCLA defeated Notre Dame, 86-83, in double overtime at South Bend, Ind., but lost to Stanford three times, including a 64-55 defeat in the Pac-10 tournament championship game Saturday after leading by nine points at halftime.

UCLA Tonight at Washington When: 6 p.m. Where: Alaska Airlines Arena, Seattle. On the air: TV: ESPN2. Radio: 570. Records: UCLA 21-8 overall, 12-4 Pacific 10 Conference; Washington 19-9, 10-6. Update: The Bruins typically play better on Thursdays under Coach Ben Howland, going 43-4 in the first game of a Pac-10 weekend series over the last six years. In the second game, they are 28-19. Howland said transition defense would be a key to victory, particularly after Washington repeatedly burned UCLA for easy baskets during a 74-63 victory on Dec. 31 at Pauley Pavilion.