Tucked beneath the main floor of the PMAC is a sublevel auxiliary practice court that LSU basketball players and coaches jokingly call “the dungeon.”
The court, with limited space and poor acoustics, is used as practice space for the LSU volleyball and the LSU men’s and women’s basketball teams.
But the “dungeon days” will be drawing to a close for the basketball teams, as construction is set to begin in late spring for a new basketball practice facility scheduled to open in fall 2009.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt that if any teams in America need a new practice facility, it’s the LSU men’s and women’s basketball teams,” said Van Chancellor, LSU women’s basketball coach.
The new practice facility, estimated to cost $12 million to $15 million, will be built in place of the PMAC ramps facing the Carl Maddox Field House. The facility will include two separate courts, each 94 feet by 50 feet in area with about 20 extra feet of surrounding space. The auxiliary gym in the PMAC will become the volleyball team’s sole practice court.
LSU men’s basketball coach John Brady said the facility is crucial for his team’s success. The practice facility will also house a new men’s basketball locker room complete with a training room, lounge, equipment room and tape viewing room.
“If the expectation is to beat the best people, we must have the best facilities,” Brady said.
Brady, who raised money to revamp the men’s locker room when he first arrived at LSU in 1997, said he sometimes struggles to recruit players who may be heavily influenced by the facilities they see.
“If it’s a facility-based decision, we have no shot,” Brady said.
LSU has lagged behind its fellow Southeastern Conference schools in practice facility construction.
Florida led the SEC when the Gators opened a $10 million practice facility in 2001. Two men’s basketball national championships followed in 2006 and 2007.
“Florida is basically the best of the best when it comes to looking at their facilities,” said Eddie Nuñez, LSU associate athletics director of operations and project development.
The architects that constructed Florida’s facility, RDG Planning & Design based in Des Moines, Iowa, have designed LSU’s facility along with Holden Associates in Baton Rouge.
Other SEC schools soon followed Florida’s lead. Kentucky opened its $30 million facility in January, and Georgia’s $30 million complex debuted this season. Tennessee has nearly completed its $16 million facility, and Auburn is set to open a $92 million arena with separate practice court in 2010
“It’s tough when everybody else is enhancing their facilities, and you’re still just there,” Nuñez said. “I think this will help us continue to compete at the top level.” Nuñez said LSU coaches, including Brady, Chancellor and former women’s basketball coach Pokey Chatman, were instrumental in bringing ideas back from their visits to other SEC facilities. He also said several of the men’s basketball coaches and athletic administration officials toured Kentucky’s complex, which is now considered to rival Florida’s facility.
“They’ve all been good with bringing back information after road games,” Nuñez said. “Pokey [Chatman] helped out a lot in the beginning. Van [Chancellor] has been wonderful since he got [to the University] with all of his knowledge from the WNBA and having seen some of those great facilities.”
Lady Tigers freshman guard Katherine Graham is one of only a few current players who will see the practice facility’s scheduled opening in 2009.
“It will be great so we won’t have to get rushed off the court if we need to practice longer,” Graham said.
Nuñez said the estimated $12 million to $15 million price tag is funded from a cash bond issued to the Athletic Department. The Tiger Athletic Foundation and the Athletic Department are fundraising to help with the bond payment and any additional costs, Nuñez said.
The construction bidding process will likely begin in February, and Nuñez said he hopes construction will begin soon after the 2008 NCAA women’s basketball tournament first and second rounds are hosted in the PMAC.
Chancellor and Brady agree that the construction is long overdue.
“We need it right now,” Chancellor said. “We needed it built yesterday.”
——Contact Amy Brittain at [email protected]