James A. Rhodes Arena, commonly nicknamed "The JAR," is an arena in Akron, Ohio, United States on the campus of the University of Akron named for former Ohio governor Jim Rhodes. The arena opened in 1983 and is home to the Akron Zips men's and women's basketball teams and women's volleyball team. The new facility was six years in the making. Some delays were encountered after the General Assembly, in 1977, appropriated $8 million for the construction of a 10,000-seat building for the 1977-79 biennium. However, by October 1978, when preliminary plans for the new complex were presented and accepted by the Ohio Board of Regents, construction costs had risen so rapidly that it required $12.5 million to complete the project. After scrapping the original design, the University decided to go ahea