The Arena Pulse: No. 24-Joel Coliseum (Wake Forest)

(Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

It’s never easy to go on the road in college basketball. This is a top 25 breakdown of some of the toughest and most intimidating venues in college basketball.

Venue: Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum

School Name: Wake Forest

Location: Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Capacity: 14,665

It can hold over 14,000 fans on a chilly winter night, but inside, the LJVM Coliseum can tend to heat up. Each and every year it happens, teams from all over the nation will get tested on the road against ACC opponents, and for Wake Forest University and its fans, they will offer you the same experience.

Home to the Demon Deacons, the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum was opened in 1989. Named in honor of Lawrence Joel, a veteran of the Vietnam War, the coliseum has been home to thousands of screaming fans for two decades now.

In the wake of the tragic death of Skip Prosser just a few years back, the support for Wake Forest basketball has seemed to have grown. After an NCAA Tournament drought of three years, the Demon Deacons proved to be one of the tougher tests in the country for much of last year season. Despite, the first round upset at the hands of Cleveland State this past March, third year head coach Dino Gaudio has a season to look forward to, as do the Demon Deacon fans.

Dressed in their yellow shirts with the black stripes, the Demon Deacon’s student section has proved the ability to get rowdy. Intimidating as they may try to be, the Wake Forest fans will pack the LJVM Coliseum each game in an effort to give their team a true home court advantage.

It was just last year that the Demon Deacons, led by a 34 point performance by Jeff Teague, upended the future National Champion North Carolina Tar Heels at home in early January. The Joel Coliseum was packed with excited fans and offered one of the tougher road games the Tar Heels saw all year. After the Demon Deacons held UNC to just 35 percent from the field en route to a 92-89 upset victory, the fans promptly responded by rushing the court.

Going into the 2009-10 season, Al-Farouq Aminu, is back to lead the charge for Wake Forest and you can bet the Joel Coliseum will be packed and ready to go yet again.

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