English professor James Earl has a different opinion on the issue. Earl has spoken out on the University not needing a new areana at all.
"I have a hard time getting comfortable with the idea that we are going to be the school that has two arenas," said Earl, who is the Pacific-10 Conference's sole member on the Coalition of Intercollegiate Athletics. "That's a level of excess already, even before we talk about the nature of the new arena."
When the price tag reached $180 million in January, Earl said there was a 50 percent chance of the arena's being built. Now with its being placed on indefinite hold, and possibly for years to come, Earl was right.
"You're just watching the arms race at work," Earl said in January. "Nothing is surprising in what's happening here. Expansion is the name of the game."
Luke Jackson's large poster on the building is one of the recognizable facets of McArthur Court.
Oregon men's basketball head coach Ernie Kent and Oregon women's basketball head coach Bev Smith have both expressed disappointment in the postponement of plans for a new arena.
Yet both have no problem in continuing to play in McArthur Court, which is the second-oldest arena in the nation and has a national tradition as one of the loudest arenas in the country. Oregon Athletics Director Bill Moos said that he doesn't believe the decision will affect recruitment.
StudentsJunior Jordan Sandler is outside McArthur Court at least two hours before a men's basketball game begins. Sandler is one of many students, all members of the "Pit Crew," who come out to the men's basketball games to rattle the opposing team and fire up the Ducks.
"Everybody realizes that you're the Pit Crew, you're part of something special," Sandler said. "You really add to that magic at Mac Court."
The Pit Crew has made McArthur Court a nationally recognizable name, and teams know it is a difficult place to play.
Sandler is proud of that tradition and aura that surrounds McArthur Court. He doesn't want to see a new arena built at all.
"I would like to come back 20 to 30 years from now, bring my kids back and go to a basketball game, be at Mac Court, and look fondly into the Pit Crew where I used to sit and see the future and evolution of that," Sandler said. "I have absolutely no problem if they never build another arena."