(AP) — The new $14 million practice facility for LSU’s men’s and women’s basketball teams won’t be completely ready for the beginning of the 2009-10 season as originally hoped.
But don’t think for a minute that’s causing angst among the coaches who will use the facility.
“Would you rather have a Cadillac Escalade a month from now, or a second-hand used-car today?” women’s coach Van Chancellor asked. “I’d rather wait for the real thing.”
That’s the basic position of both Chancellor and men’s basketball coach Trent Johnson as they look at a timetable that would have the facility completed sometime after practice starts early in the season. They prefer having it done thoroughly to meeting a strict deadline.
The practice facility is being built to connect to the north end of the Assembly Center and will also include a new men’s locker room, coaches’ locker rooms, a lounge area, training rooms, laundry, storage and reception area that can hold 500 people.
Eddie Nunez, LSU’s associate athletics director for operations and new product, said it is also being built in a way where it can be expanded in the future. A weight room would be a centerpiece of a future “phase II” of the facility.
The project continues a recent string of construction jobs at LSU’s athletic complex that has included expansion and renovations at Tiger Stadium, most recently a new video board for next season, and the building of new baseball and softball stadiums.
Where the new Alex Box Stadium and Tiger Park had to be ready on time to be used at the start of the season, there is no such deadline pressure on this project because the new facility isn’t needed for games.—-Contact The Daily Reveille’s sports staff at [email protected]