Picture Of Practice Facility?

[Vuce]

I pulled this from the uMess site. They are getting a basketball only facility. Their facilities are not that great to begin with as the Mullins Center is used by hockey too. But still, they have an 11 million dollar gift which will be matched and ground breaking in the spring:

"UMass" magazine reports that an anonymous alum has made a gift of $11 million for a hoops-only training facility for men and women basketball players. This is half of the cost. Construction will begin near the Mullins Center in the spring.

The donor, identified only as having earned a masters from Isenberg, says "If UMass is going to compete on the national level, it has to have national caliber facilities." We are the only A-14 campus without a dedicated basketball facility.

The building will include practice courts, strength and conditioning facilities, locker rooms, and offices for coaches, team meetings and sports medicine.

 

[CTEagle]

Come UCONN Basketball Alums. Step up and give back to the community which gave you your chance at greatness.

 

[Yonick]

WOW! That is a very discouraging statement by Ray Allen. Pretty sad really when you look at the sum of those salaries. No wonder nothing is happening there with that indifferent mindset.
Kind of disturbing to me, I can't imagine how that makes the average UConn fan feel.

Well, first of all The average UConn fan feels quite good after it's 3rd NC in the past 12 years. And those feelings of a BC fan???
Seriously, nobody knows why no UConn hoops alum hasn't made any contributions. It's very possible that Calhoun discouraged them to do so, simply because Jeff Hathaway didn't make fundraising a priority.The project was going nowhere. It's one of the reasons Hathaway was fired. When a permanent AD is choosen, fundraising will be one of his strengths. We'll then see how the NBA players rise to the occassion.

 

[upstater]

Well, first of all The average UConn fan feels quite good after it's 3rd NC in the past 12 years. And those feelings of a BC fan???
Seriously, nobody knows why no UConn hoops alum hasn't made any contributions. It's very possible that Calhoun discouraged them to do so, simply because Jeff Hathaway didn't make fundraising a priority.The project was going nowhere. It's one of the reasons Hathaway was fired. When a permanent AD is choosen, fundraising will be one of his strengths. We'll then see how the NBA players rise to the occassion.

When you're school's program (BC) has been totally obliterated by a school down the road, I guess a good way to spend your time is taking potshots at the other school's message board. BC has never been relevant in basketball. And they sure as heck don't need anything other than a barn for their basketball games. Just make sure there are enough haybales for their 250 fans to sit on, and they're OK.

 

[UConnRock]

Hopefully UConn gets between 1-2 million from the exit fees of Pitt, 'Cuse and WVU. we know that Cuse and Pitt will be 5 million each and if WVU wants out before 2014 they will probably negotiate well over twice that figure. If I were UConn that would be seed money for the hoops facility.

 

[Danzz]

Jim Calhoun has publicly stated he refuses to accept any donations for the practice facility from his former players. It's his position that the fans should have to foot the bill.

Maybe JC didn't actually want the facility built while Hathaway was AD. He may not have wanted to put a feather in Hathaway's cap.

 

[Scot-e]

I believe JC said he did not think the UCONN NBA players had a responsibility to contribute. I also believe he mentioned to a member of my family at one point in the past that he was "not a fan of asking them for money". I do believe any money offered would be excepted.

 

[jibsey]

According to basketball-reference.com:
Ray has made $168,037,360
RIP has made $85,666,043
Donyell has made $72,417,867
Cliff made $61,579,625
Butler has made $53,125,677
Oak has made $49,059,104
Gordon has made $42,917,019
Charlie has made $24,581,810
Gay has made $24,117,597
Travis made $22,622,500
Ollie made $20,131,418 (amazing he made less than Travis)
Jake made $12,321,407

Total for double digit guys is $636,574,430

Nobody else has cracked double digits in NBA revenue. I'm pretty sure Khalid has made double digits overseas.

You have to figure you can get a few bucks out of that group. I'm in the camp where it's unreasonable to expect them to or think they have an obigation to donate, but considering their character, relationship with the coach and they way they think of UConn as family, I would think most would break out the checkbook when the school comes calling.

How much do they need for the facility? It would seem they should be able to get 4 million out of that group without Calhoun having to pick up a phone.

 

[freescooter]

Ray's comments and some others I've read give me a distinct impression that this is about football envy. Who gives a damn if football players gave back? Though for the record, Burton is the father of a former football captain, so I think you could argue that they did their part. And Harry Gampel didn't play basketball yet he made a major contribution, I think which Ray and everybody else benefitted from, no? Nobody is saying Allen or anyone else has to do what Anthony did at Syracuse. That would be nice, sure, but just be leaders of the effort and make reasonable contributions. Sheesh.

 

[ChrisSmith]

WOW! That is a very discouraging statement by Ray Allen. Pretty sad really when you look at the sum of those salaries. No wonder nothing is happening there with that indifferent mindset.
Kind of disturbing to me, I can't imagine how that makes the average UConn fan feel.

Why is it discouraging or disturbing? Ray doesn't feel obligated to give. Even if he wants to give back to UConn, why should it be for a basketball facility? All those NBA salaries and NCAA championships have come without a practice facility.

I would be great if Allen wanted to donate $2MM for a facility. I don't expect him to or feel he is obligated to. He has already contributed more to UConn than UConn has contributed to him, and both parties are better off for his time at UConn regardless of whether he chooses to make an additional donation.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

I believe there is something to the idea that Ray Allen and the rest of the basketball alumni feel that since similar facilities in other programs almost always get built without an NBA sugar daddy, why should UConn's? What Carmelo Anthony did at Syracuse is the exception, not the rule. Couple this with Hathaway's documented failures (they were significant in scope) with fund raising, and I can see why they're hesitant. I think they'd like to see what a competent AD can do first.

 

[Joobie]

Would it be possible to have an Alumni Game to raise money for the new facility? Our NBA players are currently unemployed & it would be an EXCELLENT way to raise revenue. Would the NCAA allow that?

 

[freescooter]

They usually get built because somebody steps forward and makes a big gift, a sugar daddy so to speak, exactly like Burton and Shenkman did for the football facility and Gampel did for the basketball arena. I don't personally care whether Ray Allen donates a dime. But if he doesn't he should simply shut up and not tell others how the the thing should be done. Somebody will eventually be convinced that the Mr. Wonderful Basketball practice arena would be a great legacy. Then of course, everyone will complain that it wasn't named the Jim Calhoun Center, except for the people who complain it wasn't named the Geno Aurriemma Practice facility and Pizzaria.