Long not likely to stand pat despite facilities aces in hand
Posted on Friday, July 18, 2008
FAYETTEVILLE - Enhancing Arkansas' athletic facilities was not a front-burner issue when Jeff Long took over as athletic director on the first day of 2008.
But that doesn't mean there is not a basketball practice facility to construct and an athletic complex to update.
"We're good, [and ] at one time we were great, but others have caught up,"Long said earlier this summer. "We want to stay at the top. That's a clear message from our fans, so I'm excited to look at those things."
Outgoing Athletic Director Frank Broyles left Arkansas in remarkable shape regarding its key facilities - Reynolds Razorback Stadium (football ), Walton Arena (basketball ) and Baum Stadium (baseball ). Long was so impressed after touring facilities with Broyles after his hiring that he couldn't have imagined inheriting a better situation with the Razorbacks' athletic facilities.
Yet, in the progressive SEC, where the construction of basketball practice facilities is currently the rage, upgrading facilities is an ongoing process.
Construction of a basketball practice facility is foremost on Arkansas' to-do list, at least in the mind of Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey.
Pelphrey said the Hogs are blessed with Walton Arena, but a practice facility is a necessary enhancement.
"I think there's a great need for one, especially during the off-season,"Pelphrey said. "We've had some conversations about that. I know that's something that's on Jeff Long's radar screen.... When that will become a reality, I'm not sure on that."
Long said he recognized the need for one.
"With the demand for Bud Walton Arena, having our men's and women's programs both wanting to have the optimum practice times in order to allow the student-athletes to attend the classes they want to attend... that's a pressure that's here,"Long said. "We've dealt with it a number of years, you know, balancing the court at Bud Walton Arena.... So a basketball practice facility is in our future [but ] there's not a timeline for it."
That's because Long said he believes there are areas in the Broyles Athletic Center that need refurbishing.
"I think we need to do some things for our football program,"Long said. "While we have been great and continue to be very good, there's some enhancements we need to do with locker room, training room, equipment area, meeting rooms, those kind of things that are on my radar to improve to keep us amongst the best in the SEC, amongst the best in the nation."
Refurbishing the Broyles Athletic Center is on the facilities master plan, along with the basketball practice facility.
"Again, there's a pretty good footprint for the master plan already,"Long said. Part of the motivation for building a separate basketball facility is because everybody else in the SEC is doing it. Tennessee opened the Pratt Pavilion last fall to join the ranks of SEC schools with basketball practice facilities, which includes Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and Vanderbilt. Alabama has a separate practice area with multiple goals inside Coleman Coliseum, but it is shared with the volleyball team.
LSU broke ground on a $ 14 million basketball practice venue on July 1. Ole Miss is scheduled to break ground on a facility in the $ 12 million range this month, and Mississippi State is well into the exploration stages of a basketball practice building, particularly after guard Ben Hansbrough transferred in the off-season, citing the lack of a practice facility as one of his reasons for leaving.
Auburn has a new basketball arena under way to replace decrepit Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum. Arkansas won't be replacing Walton Arena anytime soon, but the Arkansas softball team will christen a new field next year off Leroy Pond Road, with the old softball field undergoing demolition now.
The old stadium, between the Walker Pavilion and the John Mc-Donnell Outdoor Track facility is targeted for extra parking.
"Beyond that, there's no longterm [plan ],"Long said.
Asked if that area might someday hold a parking deck, Long said," Not at this point. In the future, that might be something that's considered, but right now, no."
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
