Can't really blame facilities / arena anymore
- Thread starter olshin
- Start date
Olshin- er.....no. The pavilion is much nicer than Welsh-Ryan, if for no other fact it was built about 20 years ago. It holds about 6500. I will agree that while it's nice it wasn't "State-of-the Art" when it was built and it's the same way now. Glades: VU moved most of their "on-campus" games to the Pavillion when it was built. They play "big" games (i.e. Syracuse in years past) they play at the Wells Fargo Center; home of the 76'ers and Flyers. VU plays there 2,3 times a year but to maintain their ties to Big 5 basketball history they typically play at the Palestra as visitors to Penn or St. Joseph's. Terrific win by Philly's Cats last night!!!
I don't know about this. The chance to go ski a few runs, then come inside and watch some basketball would be a pretty big draw in my world, especially if there is a fireside with hot cocoa and Bailey's.
On the other hand, have you seen their practice facilities/locker rooms/etc.? It's embarrassing how much better they are than NU's.
I find it hard to believe I was rooting for Villanova last night. I was affiliated with Georgetown BB in 1985 and was in Lexington for the biggest upset in NCAA history. The ironic part of that saga was Villanova got into the NCAAs when a last second shot by BC in the Big East tourney literally went in and seemingly seconds later spun up and out the basket. Villanova would not have made the tourney if that shot had stayed down. I was convinced Georgetown could lose but not be beaten. Georgetown shot over 50% but VU shot almost 80% against the renowned GU defense . That loss still hurts
Villanova seldom plays there any more. The Palestra is actually Penn's home court, and I think Villanova plays them there every other year to honor their home-and-home "Big 5" commitment. They used to regularly have Big 5 doubleheaders in there. I remember watching one of those during the 1970-71 season with Villanova against Princeton (which actually was good at the time) and Temple against Penn. I attended the game with a wild ex-Villanova student who almost got us into a dustup with some Penn fans. Villanova had a skinny, very talented forward named Howard Porter that year and actually reached the national title game, which they lost to UCLA. They later had to vacate the runner-up slot when it turned out Porter had signed with an agent before leaving college.
I don't think the arena itself is a huge factor, but the practice facilities and locker rooms, where the players will be spending most of their time? Yeah, they're important. Remember when Carmody would tell recruits the old locker rooms were being repainted so they wouldn't go inside and see how terrible they were?
Our locker rooms are great. Also the practice facility is really not bad at all. We've moved baseball and most of the other sports out of there. We need to stop acting like we have third world facilities. We're light years better than almost every mid major school, not that we should be shooting for that.
Welsh Ryan is a dump. Worst arena for a major conference school. A recruits first impression has to be "what a pit". I challenge anyone to give me an example of a worse home court. It is a disgrace.
Would you consider the A-10, American, Mountain West, and half the WCC mid majors? If so, then I disagree.
There are MVC teams with better facilities than NU, as well.
Does basketball share their practice space with Volleyball? Are their rumored plans and monies
available to convert Trienens into Mens/Womens practice facility? I realize big things are happening
on Lakefront but have heard nothing about future for hoops facility. Honestly, what truly can be $tructurally
done with Welsh-Ryan? I would imagine a good/competitive team would create the "energy" so that "dump"
turns into "old classic" facility quickly!! I ask because I don't know......
available to convert Trienens into Mens/Womens practice facility? I realize big things are happening
on Lakefront but have heard nothing about future for hoops facility. Honestly, what truly can be $tructurally
done with Welsh-Ryan? I would imagine a good/competitive team would create the "energy" so that "dump"
turns into "old classic" facility quickly!! I ask because I don't know......
Best scenario has W-R torn down but if a re-do is in the books, how about starting with a second entrance on the north side and a concourse that circles the court. Add restrooms and a food court, purple seats in north stands and upgrade the benches behind the baskets. Think those would be a pretty good start. What else?
Back in my day, the student entrance was on the North side. But that was before the practice facility was built. It was just an open dirt area with baseball batting cages. So I don't think that is feasible. But I like your idea of putting real seats throughout the North stands, even if it cuts down capacity a little. Better to have comfortable seats for NU fans even at high ticket prices, than to have a couple of thousand visitors at some games. I'd skip the food court and restrooms, if the capacity was less then what NU currently has is OK.
The new arena would come around 2025, given the pace of fund raising after the $260 million lakefront facility is complete. Figure 5 years of fundraising, and 2 years of demolition and construction. WRA would be over 70 years old by that point.
At least W-R finally got rid of the dirt floor of the field house when NU's administration reluctantly upgraded W-R with the new indoor stadium "look" but retained that Gawd awful 1920's era biplane hanger look that still exists today. Whenever I return to W-R for a 'Cats b-ball game, those hanger girders keep reminding me of how dirty and filthy W-R was when I was a schollie athlete back in the early 70's and b-ball games were played on 4 ft-by-4 ft jigsaw puzzle deck flooring, half of which held "dead spots" in which a bounced backetball never rebounded when dribbled. Absolutely horrid venue. But when comparing the current "new" indoor stadium-look W-R to the "old" W-R, it's virtually the Taj Mahal.
If I ever win the next 1.1 billion powerball, I would donate $250M to the athletic department to construct a true "indoor stadium" on campus - either on the lakefill or on property along Sheridan Rd (like razing Bloomquist and the surrounding university-owned buildings and private residences, if at all possible). NU's athletic dept remains clueless why students don't show-up in numbers for b-ball games when they have to walk 1.5 miles to W-R in sub-zero temps or driving snow and rain conditions. I wonder if Jim Phillips or his successor would ever possess the vision to do something THAT monumentally significant regarding upgrades to athletic facilities.
I used to buy the line about our facilities holding us back, but not anymore. The new video screens are a game-changer. The old Lite-Brite screens were a joke, an embarrassment, and any number of more vicious synonyms, and I bet they did turn off a few recruits. But now that you can see replays, what's the issue? Anyone who's been to W-R with two full student sections and a crowd that's at least half purple knows it's a great place to watch 'Cats basketball. The "high school gym" label should be a badge of honor.
We will never have the 5-star hotel dorms of a Kentucky or Louisville, nor will we have barbers and waterfalls on site like at Oregon. But I think that's OK.
We will never have the 5-star hotel dorms of a Kentucky or Louisville, nor will we have barbers and waterfalls on site like at Oregon. But I think that's OK.
Maybe when the indoor facility and weight room are no longer needed they could either open up the west side as another entrance to help alleviate getting in and out. Could also use the indoor practice field as a spot for a new BB practice facility. Then use the area behind the north stands as a restaurant/food area, where you could actually sit down and enjoy, minus the dirt floor of course.
Again, the arena isn't a big deal. Lots of competitive schools have old-fashioned arenas. But the rest of our facilities are not up to par with our competition in the major conferences. The locker rooms are adequate, the practice court is adequate, the support facilities are adequate. There's absolutely nothing impressive about any of it.
Adequate doesn't make it for Big Ten program and adequate is even stretch when grading, especially the practice court and don't know what support facilities your referring to. I have spoken with numerous visiting fans throughout the years and almost to a man or lady they refer to W-R as a glorified high school gym. Thus, what do you think recruits think as they come in on their visits?
People seem to forget that.
It was no coincidence that recruiting started to improve once the renovations were done to the practice facilities and LRs.
^ Need to pay more attention to what happened to recruiting pre and post renovations.
Hilarity continues with the Carmody huggers suggesting that our recruiting had nothing to do with the removal of BC and the installment of Chris Collins. No! It was the facilities improvements! That jumbotron was what convinced Vic Law to jump. LMFAO
Are you frigging guys just busting our balls or are you really that much in denial? How many people talked about our facilities being the reason their kid didn't come to NU vs. the fact that the coach couldn't bother to show up for a visit or that he expressed no interest in putting any effort in recruiting a kid? C'mon, even a Carmody hugger cannot be this ridiculously inane.
Yes, if only Carmody got the jumbotron improvement and the LR renovation. We would have secured all these 4 stars that are coming to Evanston for sure. WTF????
The point is that Carmody's own recruiting got significantly better after the locker room renovations. Obviously Collins' recruiting has been better than Carmody's. Makes you wonder what Collins could do if we gave him significant facility improvements over what we have now.
Pretty sure recruiting began to improve when Tavaras Hardy came on staff...you know, someone who actually wanted to recruit.
Are you agreeing or disagreeing with me? Because what I said was recruiting improved when Collins was hired.
Oh yes they can because they want to. Carmody huggers will continue to criticize Collins and Phillips because his and their feelings were hurt and they miss the Princeton offense and 1-3-1 defense with a 5-9 guy at the bottom.
I miss all that.
I also miss the 5 postseason trips bc teams have gone to in the last 6 years, and admire his five for five postseason streak which represents every single year he was somewhere other than nu.
As someone who has gone to Big 5 games over the last five decades, I have seen nothing to lead me to believe that Villanova has had a facilities" advantage over NU when it comes to where it has played its games. The Palestra is ancient, in an area with very little parking and is about 10 miles from Villanova's campus. This isn't to say that it is a bad place to see a game. In fact it is my favorite basketball venue. The stands are close to the action and the atmosphere is great. Somehow, Villanova fans never had a problem getting there to pack the place. The major difference between the Palestra and Welsh Ryan is that Welsh Ryan has parking and the students live close by. As was noted, Villanova's off campus games were moved to the Spectrum which was replaced by the Wells Fargo Center. While the these facilities have ample parking, again they are at least 10 miles from campus. My personal opinion is that these modern multi-purpose arenas place you too far from the floor and have no character. Nevertheless, no one complains about the atmosphere, because again the stands are packed with rabid fans. With respect to Villanova's on campus arena, the Pavillion again, I don't see Villanova having an advantage. Like NU, Villanova has a problem obtaining land for expansion. It is located in a very wealthy neighborhood with very high real estate prices. As a result, the Pavilion was squeezed into the existing campus footprint. From the moment it was built, it was pretty much recognized that it was a failed effort. Because of the space that it has to conform to it managed to be small, yet have poor site lines. It is uncomfortable and a terrible place to watch a game.
In short, Welsh Ryan could very easily support a successful program. We just need to start winning.
In short, Welsh Ryan could very easily support a successful program. We just need to start winning.
Ah, more Collins and NU hate from you. Who would have thought that you would pine for more mediocre recruiting and results for 13 seasons under Carmody. BTW, has he secretly thanked the NU administration and the kids who played for him or is just to busy?
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