Practice facility
- Thread starter PASpider
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It's not available this week...two weeks before the first game. if anyone thinks the coaches and players like going to Weinstein they're nuts. And the renovation of Milhiser is two or three million not $10 or $20.
unavailable one week every ten years or so---people will be screaming for a new practice facility 10 years after the completion of the first facility that is so desperately needed...
I'd be happy to contribute some $$$$$, but I don't have a spare mil or two sitting around like some of us on here.
My point is that spending that kind of money for a practice facility is not a bad investment if it helps us pick up our top target recruits, allows us to win more games, improves the profile of the program, then more better recruits come here to play, etc. Seems to me that was the idea behind the RC renovations, along with an improved fan experience. To me the best fan experience is going to the RC and seeing our guys win 20 plus games every year and going to the big dance on a regular cadence. Getting better recruits makes all of that much more likely.
My point is that spending that kind of money for a practice facility is not a bad investment if it helps us pick up our top target recruits, allows us to win more games, improves the profile of the program, then more better recruits come here to play, etc. Seems to me that was the idea behind the RC renovations, along with an improved fan experience. To me the best fan experience is going to the RC and seeing our guys win 20 plus games every year and going to the big dance on a regular cadence. Getting better recruits makes all of that much more likely.
3gen. Please reread my post about 24/7 practice. And I did attend a practice two weeks ago. There were no additional baskets set up and the players watched half the time instead of taking part in the drills.
What? Do some research. All NBA teams have practice facilities elsewhere. Most colleges do too. In fact, it would be interesting to see which ones at our level do not. In my area I know that Temple, St. Joe's, Penn, and Villanova have them. Just was reading something random about Creighton and saw they had one too.
all pro teams do have practice facilities because none of their arenas are available for their use every day and night.
I've toured the VCU facility twice now. I would love to have 24 hour access to this awesome facility like our current players do! It's going to be a huge recruiting gem for Coach Wade. The men and women each have half of the building, so no more sharing court time. Each side has 6 baskets and out to a 3 point line even on the side baskets. The video room is next to the floor. There are also video monitors on the side of the courts where at any point the coaches can stop practice to rewind the constant filming and teach from what happened or didn't happen. The weight room, training room and hot and cold hydrotherapy facilities are around the corner. The teams also have a players lounge with 24 hour access.
Bottom line, it will help develop our current players and help attract our target recruits.
Part of it is "keeping up with Joneses", but in our case we really needed the extra court space.
You guys have all hit on the reasons to have one, but obviously we've both had great success in the past without one, so certainly not a necessity.......
Bottom line, it will help develop our current players and help attract our target recruits.
Part of it is "keeping up with Joneses", but in our case we really needed the extra court space.
You guys have all hit on the reasons to have one, but obviously we've both had great success in the past without one, so certainly not a necessity.......
It is my understanding that we already have all those things in the Robins Center and no court time issues.
again guys, we have a great basketball venue and it is ours and we have access when we want it BUT if CM perceives that we need another facility to show, not so much use, show, to recruits, then if we can raise the funds for it, we do it. just don't see this as a practice issue but a recruiting issue, two different deals. some schools need both, we don't but we need it for recruiting and we have to look at it in that manner.
Mooney has been asked about it in the past. He may just be toeing the company line but he says we don't need it because of the access to the RC.
The $25m Capital Campaign will go public soon and the basketball practice facility is not included, whether some like it or not.
The $25m Capital Campaign will go public soon and the basketball practice facility is not included, whether some like it or not.
I have no clue what it would really cost to build a practice facility but it doesn't strike me as an investment that would really shift our recruiting profile meaningfully. At my house, I don't choose to go watch TV in the basement when I can do it in the best room in my house. Seems like a similar situation with practicing bball.
I'd love to know how the recruits feel. I can't help but believe this is a mole hill turned into a mountain.
I've never, ever heard a recruit say they didn't come to Richmond because of a lack of facilities.
Please, educate me, when did this ever happen.
A great basket ball player is happy on a black top, as long as he has the opportunity to be a winner.
I've never, ever heard a recruit say they didn't come to Richmond because of a lack of facilities.
Please, educate me, when did this ever happen.
A great basket ball player is happy on a black top, as long as he has the opportunity to be a winner.
Facilities are a big deal in recruiting!!! Except for our arena , we are average for the league. We dont know when it may have affected us because these kids dont pass this along. Even if they did, you and I would never know it. Travel plans such as charter flights and what hotel you stay at becomes an issue. We do a great job with that part. We need to focus on football first. Except for our stadium we are way behind in football. I do think some of this will be taken care of in the new fund raising campaign. The problem is that space has become an issue.
Again, the court (and access) is NOT the key thing here. Its all about the other facilities - - weight rooms and other training devices etc.; recovery (think way beyond whirlpool tubs - - think electronic stimulation, chambers etc etc.) and comfort (Read: LUXURY) in team rooms, study rooms, meeting rooms etc. Its much more about sales than court time!
And no it won't move us up a tier in recruiting (since most above us already have nicer than we will ever get), but it may help us get kids we have a chance to get and not lose them because they see a school at our same level with more "commitment" than we have.
Do we have to have one - - No. Do we need one - - debatable. Are we better off (basketball question only) with one - - for sure we are!
And no it won't move us up a tier in recruiting (since most above us already have nicer than we will ever get), but it may help us get kids we have a chance to get and not lose them because they see a school at our same level with more "commitment" than we have.
Do we have to have one - - No. Do we need one - - debatable. Are we better off (basketball question only) with one - - for sure we are!
That's a good question. I'm sure Weinstein gets utilized some in this regard.
A refurb of the Millheiser court would improve availability for women's and men's hoops, and keeps Weinstein available for intramurals/rec stuff. It probably wouldn't cost that much to spruce it up for a practice gym.
I don't think that is correct. When Milheiser was built, it was built for actual games with other schools. So, I would think it was the same size as Robins. Basketball courts are regulation size, unlike hockey.
Just trying to think outside the box, but two possibilities come to mind, should a basketball practice facility be decided upon by UR: 1) add another level (upper) to Millheiser to have two levels of basketball courts OR expand the building toward RS to have a larger floor capacity or 2) modify Sarah Brunet accordingly to serve the suggested (by many) needs of the basketball program. Both would be expensive, and, I suspect, neither is likely to occur.
On another athletic point, totally unrelated to basketball, I would favor modifying/expanding the RC on the eastern ground level or below so that a 50 meter pool (by lengthening the existing pool) with spectator stands and a cooling pool could be added. Of course, I am a proponent of adding back a men;s swimming team so would also add women's volley ball as well to take care of any Title 9 issues, if necessary. I also recognize that the previous admin (and perhaps the current admin as well) is concerned about maintaining the student athlete to non-student athlete ratio of our peers.
Like I said, just trying to think outside the box about how things might be accomplished if decided upon by UR. I have no intention in this post of arguing pro or con about the need, or lack thereof, of a practice basketball facility.
On another athletic point, totally unrelated to basketball, I would favor modifying/expanding the RC on the eastern ground level or below so that a 50 meter pool (by lengthening the existing pool) with spectator stands and a cooling pool could be added. Of course, I am a proponent of adding back a men;s swimming team so would also add women's volley ball as well to take care of any Title 9 issues, if necessary. I also recognize that the previous admin (and perhaps the current admin as well) is concerned about maintaining the student athlete to non-student athlete ratio of our peers.
Like I said, just trying to think outside the box about how things might be accomplished if decided upon by UR. I have no intention in this post of arguing pro or con about the need, or lack thereof, of a practice basketball facility.
That extension of the current pool area out to the east into that hollow was one of the options being considered 15 or so years ago. It would have meant the team would have been without a pool for a year though.
Didn't end up mattering though, as the whole thing never got off the ground. A competitive aquatics facility runs $15 million or more, and I'm not sure they save much if anything by expanding the current pool area. Given all that, a new pool facility isn't high on the administration's list.
An opportunity was missed to partner with GRAP/SwimRVA, Poseidon, Collegiate, and St. Christopher's on a new facility. Word is UR insisted (rightly so) it had to be located on campus if they were going to be involved, and some of the others involved refused to do that, so it ended up out at Ukrop Park.
Didn't end up mattering though, as the whole thing never got off the ground. A competitive aquatics facility runs $15 million or more, and I'm not sure they save much if anything by expanding the current pool area. Given all that, a new pool facility isn't high on the administration's list.
An opportunity was missed to partner with GRAP/SwimRVA, Poseidon, Collegiate, and St. Christopher's on a new facility. Word is UR insisted (rightly so) it had to be located on campus if they were going to be involved, and some of the others involved refused to do that, so it ended up out at Ukrop Park.
Not to change the subject too drastically here, but most of our peer institutions have a higher percentage of varsity athletes than we do (Davidson, National Liberal Arts Colleges like Williams and Amherst, and the similarly-sized Patriot League schools). This "maintain the ratio" crap is just that, it was a convenient excuse the Adminstration dragged out the last time UR sh*t-canned sports programs.
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