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Message: [QUOTE="jostar1, post: 5027960, member: 1737"] The Speaker of the House says that the upgrades are going to happen. "House Speaker Matt Ritter, arguably the legislature’s most passionate UConn basketball fan, stressed to his fellow legislators the importance of the state’s flagship university and the huge popularity of the men’s and women’s basketball teams. “I was in touch with the athletic department on Friday,” Ritter told The Courant in an interview. “The governor speaks for himself, but he was in touch with the coach over the weekend.” Elected officials, Ritter said, need to be aware of the huge popularity of the UConn teams and that the legislature needs to help when it can. “I didn’t talk to one Connecticut resident in the last 96 hours who didn’t say ‘do whatever you have to do to keep coach,”’ Ritter said. “Everywhere you went, it was like ‘whatever he needs. Whatever UConn needs.’ These were important things. There’s probably things that they haven’t thought about yet that maybe they will look for some help down the road, and I think we’ll be there for them.” From the state’s end, major investments are going to be made at Gampel Pavilion on the Storrs campus and the XL Center in downtown Hartford, the two spots where the UConn teams play. “It’s important to everybody at UConn, all the coaches, that Gampel and the XL Center be renovated,” Ritter said. “This is not new. Fortunately, those two things are going to happen. I know there are a lot of people who are doubters and skeptics. It’s going to happen. The XL Center will be renovated north of $115, $120 million, and Gampel will see a $100 million renovation as well. That’s important.” At Gampel, the state will put in $80 million, and UConn will need to raise the remaining $20 million. “What both the XL Center and Gampel lack is premium seating, traditional suites that you can sell for a lot more money and have naming rights,” Ritter said. “That has been an ongoing problem. So both of those things will be solved with these funds. Gampel, like the XL, has a lot of deferred maintenance issues as well. We had it worked out back in May, but it never hurts to reiterate it. We’ll continue to work with the athletic department on things that they need. … There are always things the state can do to support UConn and support UConn athletics. This session proved that there’s still a lot of support for UConn up at the Capitol.” [URL unfurl="true"]https://www.courant.com/2024/06/10/lamont-lobbied-hurley-well-make-sure-hes-the-top-paid-college-coach-but-theres-more/[/URL] [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach