January 4, 2025
Island Federal Arena (Capacity: 4,000)
Stony Brook, NY
Stony Brook Seawolves vs William & Mary Tribe
Final Score: 76 – 83
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Ohhh, the saga of Stony Brook’s basketball home. Originally built in 1990, Stony Brook Arena was of decent size for the then Division III program. The complex was nice, but the gym was terrible as the bleachers and low ceiling made for a bleh viewing experience. I saw that first hand on a visit in 2006. By that point, Stony Brook moved to Division I and they were seven seasons in (with a combined record of 68-132). The school had bigger ambitions and wanted a better arena that included more revenue sources. A significant renovation was announced in 2008 and the building was closed. FOR SIX YEARS! There was very little news and money got hung up from the state, understandably because they shouldn’t foot $20 million for renovations even if they are one of the flagship schools within the State University of New York (SUNY) system. The Seawolves toiled away in tiny Pritchard Gymnasium which make a High School Gym blush. Despite this, they got good under Steve Pikiell and they were constantly atop the America East. Eventually, the state caved and the arena was completely rebuilt, reopening in 2014. A season later, Stony Brook made their first NCAA Tournament with a 26-6 record as they defeated Vermont in the AE title game at home. Since then, the Seawolves have had some ups and downs on the court. They also shifted conferences and moved to the CAA in 2022. Since the renovation featured a complete gutting of the inside, I consider this a “new arena” and a separate visit from the original. My return to the school came for a noon weekend game while the students were still on winter break. There are plenty of them, nearly 25,000 students. There is a high focus on research and Stony Brook has had a great contribution and impact in many sectors (especially environmental). As for the rebuilt arena, it’s a nice design and a cozy home…just one the features an atmosphere with unrealized potential.
Prestige Ranking: 2.5 out of 5
Location
Being on Long Island, one may think Stony Brook is near New York City. On the contrary as it is over an hour away in the middle of Suffolk County on the North Shore. The little hamlet of 13,000 does not have a center core, but there is a nice area along Route 68 with some activities to fill time before a game. This section a few minutes from campus features the Long Island Museum, an open-air complex that includes a huge collection of carriages. Also nearby is the Stony Brook Grist Mill and the Stony Brook Village Center, a 1940s era shopping center (with small eateries) that looks much newer than its age. The center is upscale and has a slight Hamptons class vibe, but the Post Office is a cool building to check out. Finally, this area is on the marshy harbor that leads into the Long Island Sound. Basketball season isn’t ideal to check it out, but if you find a decent weather day head down to see Hercules statue and possibly some hermit crabs.
Location Ranking: 6 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
Campus is in the southeast portion of Stony Brook and though it takes at least 10 minutes to get to from the LIE (I-495), only one road is needed from Exit 62. Nicholls Road (Rt. 92 north) leads right up to the entrance of the school and after making the left into one of the entrances, a road circles the outer perimeter of the University (aptly named Circle Road). Stony Brook is big in terms of surface area and it takes a little bit to get to the athletic complex. The arena is near other campus academic buildings. For parking, there is a lack of signage. The lot immediately adjacent to the arena is “VIP”, so use the nearby lot when you first turn left from Circle Road onto Gym Road. If needed, a larger parking area can be found behind the football stadium and that is not a long walk to the arena. Gameday traffic is minimal as the only annoyance is the potential of fighting general Island congestion if coming from Nassau County.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 7.5 out of 8
Exterior
The arena is boxy as pillars support the plain gray canvas that sits above. It definitely could use some color or school scrips as the blank space is notable. The main entrance is further down the road and it is a middle vestibule between the arena and older brick gymnasium. This understated entrance at least has “Stony Brook Athletics” written on it and a poster for the Men’s and Women’s Basketball schedule.
Exterior Ranking: 4.5 out of 10
Concourse
After a quick security step-through, fans enter into an open central area for the complex. I’m surprised this wasn’t spruced up during the 2012-2014 renovation as the area is somewhat dated with 80s shopping mall brown tile flooring and lots of white walls. At least there is a skylight letting in natural light. On the immediate right is the box office and then eventually Pritchard Gym and other campus facilities. To the left are the doors to the main arena. More concourse-like features are found inside as the walkway goes around the top of the seating bowl, each side has a lot of space and there are 3 concession stands in total, 2 on the nearest sideline and 1 behind the far side seats. You can see the court in several areas of the walkway.
Concourse Ranking: 3.5 out of 5
Food
Options are quite limited, however I was pleasantly surprised at the size and quality of the Chicken Tenders I got. Fries were soggy though. If you want more than a hot dog, venture to the far stand for a few other sandwich choices. You will need to duck down to see the menu as it is tucked in a bad spot deep in the concession stand. There is beer and Westhampton is the local product. For $25, fans can access the Wolves Den, which includes buffet food in the lower level of the arena.
Food Ranking: 3 out of 8
Interior
This is an intimate arena that is pretty good overall. The seating structure is an octagon and rows go up at a nice pitch making for great sightlines. All throughout, you feel on top of the action and close to the court. Seats are red and spacious enough with cup holders. The exceptions are at the ends, which is bench only. Limited space and a low ceiling puts luxury seating at court-level and you can find that on the far sideline, where 4 suites are sandwiched in the middle by a large Lounge. Those with access have a “VIP” seat further down. Overall cost is $85. This luxury area in the lower half makes a sort-of upper deck of seats above and I loved the vantage point from here.
Interior Ranking: 10 out of 14
Scoreboard
Each end features a pair of boards and this is a good spot for them given the low ceiling. One is a traditional dot-matrix scoreboard with game info and a neat feature of this is that the lights for the team in the lead are green. Never seen that before! If the game is tied, then the score for each team is yellow. On the other side is just video and it plays the live feed throughout. Replays were few and far between. The clarity is good enough, even though I couldn’t get the QR code of a game program to scan when they flashed it up there.
Scoreboard Ranking: 2.5 out of 4
Displays
A small, but well decorated Hall of Fame is located in the main entrance area. Along with honoring the members, there is a more descriptive section for the first athlete in several sports to make it to the Majors or Olympics. Nice touch. On the basketball side, that is Jameel Warney and he is also honored inside the arena with his retired #20 hanging from the rafters. Team accomplishments can be seen above the sideline in the arena and while they are hard to see from the stands, each one is front and center as you enter from the main entrance.
Displays Ranking: 3 out of 6
Cost
Parking is free and tickets aren’t bad, especially given that most games you can buy a cheaper $12 end seat and probably move to an open row in the center sideline. Note that they do tack on a $3 surcharge and even crappier is that if you buy them on game day at the arena, not only do you still get handed a $3 “convenience fee”, but prices also go up by that much on the day of the game. Without fees, sideline seats are $20 – $25, while corners are $16. Overall this is comparable to most other CAA teams, maybe just a bit higher. I’d also suggest checking the secondary resellers as $7 – $10 seats can be common. As for concessions, they were fair given the value. A Burger/Fries combo was $10 and a bottled soda cost $4.25
Cost Ranking: 7 out of 8
Fan Support
Stony Brook can get some ok crowds as the place gets half full at times during the season. This was not one of those occasions. Fans just numbered in the hundreds for this first conference game of the year in early January. The students were on winter break and despite that fact, it was a rather poor showing for this noon game. Stony Brook ranks a questionable 4th in the paid attendance standings of the CAA. Later season games can bring crowds of 2,000 – 2,500 which isn’t too bad.
Fan Support Ranking: 4 out of 8
Atmosphere
Credit to the handful of students from the pep band that came out during winter break. Otherwise, the small crowd was less than enthused throughout. Generic clapping followed most baskets and there overall wasn’t a lot of noise from fans who must’ve still been sleepy for this Noon start. Even a 4-point play wasn’t enough to get the crowd up and going. The tight confines of the arena can make for a very loud place and those times when hosting America East championship games were electric.
Atmosphere Ranking: 6 out of 14
Other Stuff
When the renovation was complete, the building reopened as “Island Federal Credit Union Arena”. A mouthful for sure. It was a 10-year deal and when I made it here for a visit in 2024, the naming rights expired and it was back to Stony Brook Arena. I’m sure rights are being shopped around, but for the time being, I’m labelling the visit as that corporate name, so as to not confuse it with when I first visited the old place (also known as Stony Brook Arena)…..Wolfie is the mascot for the Seawolves and he popped out only a few times during the game to hang out with the kids….C’mon Stony Brook, why are you giving a 9-year old a Half Court Shot in a contest. The poor kid couldn’t make it to the free throw line. Then his consolation prize: A gift card to Sherwin Williams. Yay!
Game
This turned into a good one as it was a game of spurts and runs. William & Mary pressed nearly the entire time and although it didn’t give Stony Brook too much trouble, they did turn it over twice as much. Probably the difference was the horrible shot decisions by Joe Octave for the Seawolves, who went 2 for 10 from the field, many of those terrible shots. The back and forth affair turned the Tribe’s way with about 5 minutes left as they built a six-point lead and never looked back.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
