Basketball Practice Facility Becoming a Reality

By Sean · Friday, May 16, 2008 · 2:23 AM |  Share | Leave a Comment 

There has been quite a bit of talk lately about plans to build a basketball practice facility, and finally it seems that there is some concrete information out there.

Michigan’s athletic department wants to build a $20 million basketball practice facility by the start of the 2010 season and could have plans ready for school approval by September. Michael Stevenson, an UM associate athletic director for facilities, told The Detroit News Thursday the basketball facility is top priority, especially now that a proposed $5.5 million stand alone wrestling facility was approved Thursday by the Board of Regents.

Athletic department officials are expected to continue their series of meetings with a Denver-based architect and others next week to discuss further details about the basketball facility. The architect has extensive experience in basketball venues and will keep the needs of men’s coach John Beilein and women’s coach Kevin Borseth in mind, Stevenson said. “Both coaches work a little differently,” Stevenson said. “So we have to make sure that once it’s built, it works and functions the way they want it.” Plans for the basketball facility, expected to be built into an exisiting hill next to Crisler Arena, are expected to include two practice courts, offices, locker rooms and possibly a new weight room to replace the existing one in the venue, Stevenson said.

The sooner this project gets rolling the better as just having a blueprint to show recruits would be great for John Beilein and Kevin Borseth. Once this thing is built it will help recruiting and finally give both basketball teams somewhere to practice whenever they want. Right now, Crisler Arena is used for so many different things that both the men’s and women’s basketball teams have a tough time just getting on the court. On top of that, players can’t come and go when they feel like it since Crisler isn’t exactly open all the time. That would all change with a practice facility, though, and would put both basketball programs in the right direction when it comes to facilities.