SACRAMENTO – The Golden 1 Center appears to be another carrot on the stick towards moving Sacramento State athletics up conferences.
CBS13 has confirmed the Wednesday report that the Sacramento Kings are offering Sacramento State the use of G1C for men’s and women’s basketball home games, pending arena availability.
It’s all part of the effort to move the Hornets up to the Pac-12 or other stronger conference.
Currently, the Hornets compete in the D-1 Big Sky Conference. With the Pac-12 adding new schools after nearly all of its members left, there has been a growing effort to propel Sac State into the league.
Sac State announced plans for a new 25,000-seat stadium for football and other sports last week, a move expected to build the school’s case for the Pac-12.
A group of local leaders have also formed the SAC-12 group to explicitly advocate for Sac State’s move up to the Pac-12 or other FBS conference.
The Golden 1 Center is no stranger to college basketball games, being a host of the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament for several years – including in 2027, as announced on Wednesday.
NBA insider Chris Haynes first reported the Kings’ offering of G1C to the Hornets.