 As years passed, it was increasingly seen as small and outdated, and was compared to a "dismal and dreary old high school gym" by observers.By the early 1970s, Florida was the only school in the Southeastern Conference without a modern basketball facility, a factor that affected the recruiting of top players and held back the growth of its long-mediocre basketball program.The university began planning for a much larger multi-purpose sports arena in the mid-1970s, and the O'Connell Center opened in December 1980 as the new home for all of UF's indoor athletic programs.