Smith University Center (MBB/WBB)

Named in  honor of the university’s first president, Dr. Walter D. Smith, the Smith University Center  provides  comprehensive facilities   for   student   services   and  activities  as  well as for recreation and athletic  programs   to serve students, faculty, and staff. Opened in 1974,  the center’s gymnasium  orginally seated   3,027 for   basketball, but with recent  renovations  that include  new theatre-style seats, a new hardwood floor, new scoreboards, a new lighting and sound system, and a new paint job it now seats 2,547.
    
The Patriot Women have compiled a 403-111 (.784) mark in the Smith University Center, including a 165-43 run in the past 208 games. The FMU men’s basketball team owns a 296-182 (.619)  record  in  the  building, including a 13-2 mark in 2010-11.  

In addition to numerous  sporting events, the building has hosted musical concerts, an appearance by Miss America 1994 Kimberly   Aiken, U.S. Presidential   candidates, and both   college and   high  school  commencement   exercises. Francis Marion  hosted   the 1978 AIAW  Division  II  National  Women’s  Basketball  Tournament, and in 1988, the U.S. Olympic Women’s   Basketball  Team   played  an  exhibition game  against   the Cuban National Team.  In 1998, 1999, and 2008, FMU hosted the NCAA Division II   women’s  basketball   South  Atlantic  Regional Tournament.