Brooks: Build It And The Gym Rats Will Come
March 25, 2010 | General, Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball, Volleyball, B.G. Brooks
Rest assured, though, that ground was broken appropriately for a large (35,000 square feet), well-appointed and sorely needed addition to CU athletics, which haven't enjoyed an upgrade of this magnitude since the Dal Ward Center was completed a couple of decades ago.
(For the record, a front-end loader worked just fine, thank you, in turning the soil on the north side of the Coors Events Center, where the new facility will flank the existing 30-year-old hoops venue.)
The $10.8 million project, to be funded by private donations and scheduled for completion in August 2011, will provide improvements in a number of areas - eliminating what Chancellor Phil DiStefano concisely called "scheduling nightmares" for the new building's three chief tenants (men's and women's basketball, volleyball).
When new volleyball coach Liz Kritza arrived last winter, she was neither surprised nor annoyed by the prospect of having to share the Events Center court with men's and women's hoops. Not that she loved it, mind you, because her program would be among a handful (or fewer) major universities that made do with a single court.
"I came in with my eyes wide open - three programs sharing the same facility," said Kritza, whose former employer was Tulane. "I'd done it before. But you don't really know everything until you're in it.
"And I will say it's worked out because of the cooperation between the three programs. But there's a better way to do it and the way we're going to do it now with the new facility is the right way."
Yet there's more to this than merely satisfying the scheduling whims of three coaches envisioning efficient practices. Think about it like this: You're a CU volleyball or basketball player needing a course that's offered at a particular time - and that time falls during the only available period that your team, because of the juggling act that's been required, can practice at Coors.
The always potentially chaotic scenario made the words of men's coach Jeff Bzdelik echo with a great deal more sincerity during his turn behind the podium: "A heartfelt thank you to all of you for making a difference in the lives of these student athletes. We really appreciate it."
Aside from resolving the scheduling issues, there are other reasons coaches are ecstatic to see the new building open its pair of courts. There are summer basketball and volleyball camps to be considered, and whether you're caught up in the facilities "arms race" or not, 17- and 18-year-old prospects definitely are. That's a fact of life in the trenches that CU's coaches now won't have to talk around.
Kritza already is using the building's blueprints to help sell recruits. Same with Bzdelik and women's coach Kathy McConnell-Miller (she missed Thursday's ceremony while on a spring break trip with her family), as the start of their sport's late signing period approaches.
Then, there's the "get better" factor. Coaches love to remind players that there's only so much they can do to enhance individual improvement. Much of it must come from the players' desire to work independently.
But along those lines, here's a truism that unfortunately hasn't been true at CU: The prerequisite for being a gym rat is having an available gym. Soon, it will come.
"As I go out and recruit," said Bzdelik, "one of the most important aspects of finding a good player is finding one who's a gym rat. This facility is going to give our players the opportunity to be gym rats. Players that want to be efficient in their development, want to grow as a basketball player, want to be a rat, so to speak.
"In the past years, we haven't been able to provide those facilities for those players. That's very important, because we're in the Big 12 - the No. 1 RPI league for men's basketball in the nation."
And, reminded Kritza, don't discount the gym rat element in her sport: "It's the same as with basketball . . . players want to go in on their own. It's the equivalent of basketball players going in and shooting around . . . (volleyball players) go in and work on their ball control, their ball handling, their ball skills. Without having a space to do it, it makes it very difficult for players to improve on their own. It's part of every successful volleyball program . . . now we'll have it and it's going to be huge for us."
Going back a couple of administrations, CU has had designs on a basketball/volleyball practice facility. Yet traction for the project really never took hold until Bzdelik signed on three years ago and put his pen to a contract that specifically addressed the issue.
At his behest, the pact included a clause that diminished a potential buyout unless ground was broken on such a facility after his third year on the job.
Voila. Gather the proper officials, pass out the cupcakes and switch on the front-end loader.
But Bzdelik noted that while having the specifics in writing tends to enhance accountability, he added, "It's not about me; it's about benefitting the student athlete."
Still, if Bzdelik had the foresight to engage in a bit of legal nudging, he was by no means the sole driving force. Coaches' visions still must be cleared and funded, and as Athletic Director Mike Bohn reiterated on this sun-splashed, vintage Colorado spring afternoon, "It's important for all of us to understand, without President (Bruce) Benson and Phil DiStefano helping pull these things together, it doesn't happen, gang, it just does happen without their support.
"It's essential what they're doing. They're stepping up, standing behind us and helping us. Everybody has a piece in putting this together . . . but the key is leadership at the top."
Kritza summed Thursday up nicely, terming it "an amazing day," then adding: "This will change our program immensely. It will help us to train at a much higher level and allow our (players) to be much better student athletes."
If, indeed, it accomplishes just those two things in those two sports, then it's mission accomplished.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU