PurpleOut said:
SFAJack_76 said:
$45 million for the complex. Seating of 3,800 for basketball. To me, that means they never expect to have an SFA type program.
This is the conference we are in.
I don't get it, what's bad about that? This will be one of the top venues and facilities in the league.
It will be one of the best venues in the SLC, however that is not a very high bar with a few being not much more than glorified high school gyms. As long as SFA is part of the SLC, I want the other members to aspire to be one of the best mid-major athletic departments in the country also. The quality of the other member programs absolutely impacts SFA.
Over 40 years ago, SFA leadership had a vision for the successful Lumberjack program and growing women's basketball that led to a nearly 8,000 seat coliseum. For some time, that seemed like a great move and then the men's program went into the dumpster although the women's program became one of the best in the country often outdrawing the men. Probably, there were those that thought Johnson Coliseum had not been a good investment. Danny Kaspar returned the program to previous, and arguably higher, standards which Underwood and Keller have added to. If, over forty years ago the vision had been to build an arena better than Shelton but similar in size, would we be where we are today with a desire for even better results? My opinion is no.
No doubt what McNeese is building is going to be a great facility for the student body. My point was that I would have hoped they would have a bigger vision than a 3,800 seat arena. If they have no expectation to grow beyond the current 7,600 enrollment, it is probably just right. I am jealous of their nice, on campus, baseball and softball facilities.
Hope that helps.
