OU basketball arena project sets date for official groundbreaking

Oklahoma basketball's new home will officially break ground next Tuesday.

The more than $1 billion Rock Creek Entertainment District tax increment financing district groundbreaking ceremony May 12 will feature a plethora of speakers including The Rainier Companies CEO Danny Lovell, OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. and others.

The OU Foundation announced Rainier as the mixed-use District’s master developer on April 14.

“It’s going to be incredible," Sooners athletic director Roger Denny said Wednesday. "All of a sudden, you can go for a game, and instead of sitting on Highway 9 for an hour trying to get out of there, you can go hang out and have a great meal or a drink in the district and have a good time.”

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The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in February that the gist of the referendum petition that would’ve sent the use of the project to a public vote was insufficient.

OU officials and coaches have long pushed for the project, which was announced in Sept. 2023 during the Norman Economic Development Coalition’s annual State of the Economy breakfast.

The Norman Planning Commission approved the project plan in June 2024, where then-athletic director Joe Castiglione, women’s basketball coach Jennie Baranczyk and women’s gymnastics coach K.J. Kindler spoke to the planning commission members in support of the plan.

In October 2024, Harroz, joined by Castiglione and the coaches, as well as former Norman Mayor Larry Heikkila, unveiled a sign at the site that read "The Future Home of the Rock Creek Entertainment District."

Construction for the arena, which is expected to seat around 8,000 and house the men's and women's basketball team, as well as the women's gymnastics team, was originally thought to be completed by 2027-28, a timeline that will almost assuredly be pushed back.

The plan didn't come without its bumps in the road, but it's now set to break ground officially.

Colton Sulley covers the for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Colton? He can be reached at or on X/Twitter at @colton_sulley. Support Colton's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a .