End of an era at Jefferson

The last of its kind in San Mateo County, Jefferson’s coliseum-style configuration, also known as pit style, has stood since 1937. Once upon a time, it was one of three such gyms in the county, along with Sequoia and San Mateo. When San Mateo’s was closed and replaced after the 2001-02 season, it left Jeff as the only one remaining in the county.

“The pit style is so unique,” Jefferson boys’ basketball head coach John Falabella said. “Riordan still has one and Palo Alto has one, and San Mateo had one. But that style, it’s kind of becoming extinct. Whenever someone talks about the Jeff gym, they talk about it being one of the best in the area ... So, yeah, that gym will be missed.”

Falabella’s 2024-25 Jefferson squad earned the No. 8 seed in the 16-team Division IV bracket. The Grizzlies received a bye in the first round. They will host the winner of Friday’s matchup between No. 9 Scotts Valley and Stevenson-Pebble Beach. Tip-off for Saturday’s second-rounder at Jeff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Tuesday’s regular-season finale — a 46-43 non-league win over Pacific Grove at Jefferson — helped the Grizzlies lock up a higher seed, and a home game in the postseason. Jefferson hosted alumni and former players at the game, with hundreds in attendance. It was an emotional scene for Falabella, who played at Jefferson in the 1990s, and has coached there for the last 26 seasons.

“I remember before that game mentioning that it was going to be the last regular-season game in the gym, and I started to tear up a little bit,” Falabella said.

Former Jefferson head coach Bud Bresnahan first set foot in the classic gym in the 1960s. As a student at nearby Terra Nova, Bresnahan was a visiting player, and was impressed with the venue immediately.

“It’s a great facility,” Bresnahan said. “All the visiting teams liked it because they all liked the idea of the seats being up off the floor.”

After coaching at Terra Nova for seven years, Bresnahan took over the program at Jefferson in 1977-78. He coached two CCS champion teams in 1981-82 and 1987-88 before stepping away after the 1991-92 season. A retired history teacher, Bresnahan said his first thoughts after hearing the gym was to be razed was about preserving the long history it has housed.

“I was very concerned about anything historical, and in the Jefferson gym situation, there’s a lot of history there,” Bresnahan said.

In addition to Pro Football Hall of Fame coach John Madden having attended Jefferson, where he indeed played basketball, the gym holds generations of history. It’s one of the few places on campus where a reminder of the school’s former “Indians” mascot is preserved, with the classic logo painted on the wall beyond the south baseline.

Bresnahan recalled the old roof of the gym before it was reconfigured in the 1980s. It used to have two skylights, one on each side of the roof. They let so much light into the gym, he said, it was unnecessary to turn on the lights during afternoon practices. The skylights, however, were damaged when a group of graduating students sneaked onto campus one night and painted them blue and gold, the school’s colors, in an attempt to create a stained-glass effect.

“In doing so ... they cracked the seals,” Bresnahan said.

The windows were subsequently replaced with a standard roof.

“I was sorry to see the glass replaced that way because it was such a unique part of that architecture,” Bresnahan said.

The gym’s underground locker rooms are another unique feature. Bresnahan said the building is structurally sound as can be, but it was one of the features that inspired discussions about replacing the 88-year-old building, as there were some concerns about earthquake safety.

“That’s where the whole process started,” Bresnahan said.

The new gym will feature a second-floor basketball court. The locker rooms will be housed on the ground floor. The facility will include a lobby on the main level, along with a dance studio and classrooms. There will also be a fitness room and weight room in the building, with new outdoor basketball courts and the 25-meter outdoor swimming pool to the west of the gym.

“We love the gym,” Falabella said. “It’s not a perfect gym due to its age. So, it will give some modern advancements to the rest of the facility.”

Falabella said the format of the basketball schedule for the following two seasons is still being discussed. Jefferson is likely to play most of its games on the road.

“We might have a temporary home spot or makeshift ... where we might play home games at a local school,” Falabella said. “But probably a majority of the games would be on the road.”

When Jefferson hosted the annual Bud Bresnahan Blue and Gold Classic basketball tournament earlier this season, the impending turning of the page of the classic gymnasium started to hit home, Falabella said. When he and Bresnahan presented tournament champion Los Gatos with the first-place trophy, Falabella opened his speech with congratulating them on winning what would be the final tournament held at the historic venue.

“We kind of looked at each other when we said it,” Falabella said. “So, there was a lot of emotion there. It was like losing an old friend.”