Indiana will rename Assembly Hall the Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, sources tell Peegs.com.

It is being named in honor of Indiana graduate and longtime philanthropist Cynthia Simon Skjodt, daughter of former Pacers owner Melvin Simon.

Simon Skjodt has donated $40 million to the renovation project, which is expected to cover the complete cost of renovation of Assembly Hall.

Simon Skjodt (pronounced Simon "Scott") has attended IU basketball games at Assembly Hall with her father dating back to her childhood and throughout her college days.

Her late father Melvin was one of the owners of the Indiana Pacers and has a long history of involvement in both sports and philanthrophy.

Simon Skjodt initially was a co-chair of the overall capital campaign aimed at raising $150 million. The campaign is named "Catching Excellence," after a famous Vince Lombardi quote.

Simon Skjodt, due to her long history and love of Assembly Hall and IU sports in general, decided to make a major contribution on her own.

Her father Melvin and uncle Herb Simon purchased the Pacers a while back to avoid the team being sold to investors who quite likely could have moved the team to another city.

"I grew up going to Indiana University games and have great memories of watching basketball games with my father," Simon Skjodt said. "The atmosphere in Assembly Hall is truly unmatched anywhere in college basketball.

"Everyone in our family has enjoyed incredible experiences with Indiana University. We feel fortunate for our IU relationship and it is rewarding to give back. We hope others in Hoosier Nation who are able to do so will also give back to help make the 'Catching Excellence' campaign a success."

Indiana said the goal "is to maintain the character and experience of the venue while enhancing the facility's functionality so as to preserve the greatest home court advantage in college basketball. The renaming will take affect upon the completion of the renovations and improvements, which is currently anticipated to occur as early as 2016. The multi-year project will not interfere with basketball, commencement or other major activities that take place in the building."

Assembly Hall's south lobby will be restructured with a new entryway, escalators will replace ramps, bathrooms will be added, a state-of-the-art scoreboard will be added, box-seat style seating will be added above the south baseline bleachers and will generate revenue to pay for that seating and help fund continuing upkeep of Assembly Hall.

Also, other infrastructure systems will be updated.

Tom Crean said Simon Skjodt's gift "preserves the legacy of a national treasure and that's what Assembly Hall is."

IU's five national championship banners will be in a different spot, yet to be determined, but will be "prominently displayed."

The seating capacity will stay basically the same, as will the nation's largest student section of 7,800, Glass said.

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