Houston to spend at least $50 million on basketball facility renovation

[tpstulane]

We can't keep up with the Joneses....
http://www.chron.com/sports/cougars/art ... 279394.php

Option 1 - at an estimated cost of $50.1 million – would have a seating capacity of 7,855 and include upgrades to the concourse levels. There would be 1,950 premium seats, among them 1,620 club seats, 18 loge boxes, four open-air suites, five suites and 90 courtside seats. An NBA arena-like bunker club would be built for VIP and fans with courtside seats.

Option 2 - at a cost of $59.5 million - would involve a reconfigured seating bowl that raises the court level three feet and moves seats closer to the court. There would be 2,048 premium seats – 1,750 club seats, 20 loge boxes, two open-air suites, four suites and 90 courtside seats.

Option 3: The most expensive at $85.3 million, includes a combination of the first two options along with $25.8 million to construct a new roof to make Hofheinz a multi-event center.

[jonathanjoseph]

We can't keep up with the Joneses....
http://www.chron.com/sports/cougars/art ... 279394.php

Option 1 - at an estimated cost of $50.1 million – would have a seating capacity of 7,855 and include upgrades to the concourse levels. There would be 1,950 premium seats, among them 1,620 club seats, 18 loge boxes, four open-air suites, five suites and 90 courtside seats. An NBA arena-like bunker club would be built for VIP and fans with courtside seats.

Option 2 - at a cost of $59.5 million - would involve a reconfigured seating bowl that raises the court level three feet and moves seats closer to the court. There would be 2,048 premium seats – 1,750 club seats, 20 loge boxes, two open-air suites, four suites and 90 courtside seats.

Option 3: The most expensive at $85.3 million, includes a combination of the first two options along with $25.8 million to construct a new roof to make Hofheinz a multi-event center.

No. We can, we just choose otherwise. We did just spend $100M. That it accomplished very little is another story, but just as that kind of judgement is sinking athletics so will it sink the university.

[golfnut69]

Money is not Tulane's problem... The problem is the PEOPLE making the choices on how and where to spend the money.....

[JerseyWave]

What they did to Fogleman/Devlin was putting lipstick on a pig. It looks better, but a complete waste of money. Tulane is so far behind the competition with its on campus basketball field house.

[tpstulane]

What they did to Fogleman/Devlin was putting lipstick on a pig. It looks better, but a complete waste of money. Tulane is so far behind the competition with its on campus basketball field house.

It's an improvement over what we had, but it's too small seating wise. Oh yea, they are putting in a million video score board for the upcoming season.

[jonathanjoseph]

What they did to Fogleman/Devlin was putting lipstick on a pig. It looks better, but a complete waste of money. Tulane is so far behind the competition with its on campus basketball field house.

It's an improvement over what we had, but it's too small seating wise. Oh yea, they are putting in a million video score board for the upcoming season.

So they are continuing to operate in secrecy, spending a million on a video board after spending $10M without telling anyone that they were "upgrading" Fogelman. Why is it that they insist on secrecy? If this is a good thing, it should be done in the light of day.

Meanwhile, how does this jive with the message that the Big12 believes Fogelman is insufficient?

I guess Dickson believes that applying a second coating of lipstick to the pig may make everyone forget that it's a pig, despite 15 years of evidence to the contrary.

[tpstulane]

What they did to Fogleman/Devlin was putting lipstick on a pig. It looks better, but a complete waste of money. Tulane is so far behind the competition with its on campus basketball field house.

It's an improvement over what we had, but it's too small seating wise. Oh yea, they are putting in a million video score board for the upcoming season.

So they are continuing to operate in secrecy, spending a million on a video board after spending $10M without telling anyone that they were "upgrading" Fogelman. Why is it that they insist on secrecy? If this is a good thing, it should be done in the light of day.

Meanwhile, how does this jive with the message that the Big12 believes Fogelman is insufficient?

I guess Dickson believes that applying a second coating of lipstick to the pig may make everyone forget that it's a pig, despite 15 years of evidence to the contrary.

Turchin is also getting a new million dollar video scoreboard. The company that did the football stadium is doing them both. Baseball needs one. The AAC is making Tulane put one in Devlin.

[Jonathan]

Would be great to demolish our high school gym and build a 9000 Cameron size state of the art arena instead of wasting multi millions renovating our gym. Thank you Rick Dickson,

[jonathanjoseph]

What they did to Fogleman/Devlin was putting lipstick on a pig. It looks better, but a complete waste of money. Tulane is so far behind the competition with its on campus basketball field house.

It's an improvement over what we had, but it's too small seating wise. Oh yea, they are putting in a million video score board for the upcoming season.

So they are continuing to operate in secrecy, spending a million on a video board after spending $10M without telling anyone that they were "upgrading" Fogelman. Why is it that they insist on secrecy? If this is a good thing, it should be done in the light of day.

Meanwhile, how does this jive with the message that the Big12 believes Fogelman is insufficient?

I guess Dickson believes that applying a second coating of lipstick to the pig may make everyone forget that it's a pig, despite 15 years of evidence to the contrary.

Turchin is also getting a new million dollar video scoreboard. The company that did the football stadium is doing them both. Baseball needs one. The AAC is making Tulane put one in Devlin.

So after finishing Dickson's grand facilities plan, the AAC is telling us what we need to add to be compliant much less the Big 12 or ACC where we should be trying to end up. It's Rick Dickson's JOB to make sure that our facilities plans prepare us for the appropriate level of competition and he has absolutely no clue. He has spent now over $100M to waste hundreds of millions more in lost opportunities. Sad all the way around except for Rick Dickson's personal bank account.

[sader24]

Any dollar spent on Fogleman or whatever they call it these days is a wasted dollar.

[CougarRed]

We can't keep up with the Joneses....
http://www.chron.com/sports/cougars/art ... 279394.php

I have to be honest. I am THRILLED we are spending money on athletics facilities and coaches.

$25M stadium parking garage
$128M football stadium
$25M basketball practice facility opening in a couple of months
$5M in baseball renovations (field turf, new video board, etc)
$8M natatorium renovations just opened

Next up is the track renovation. Funded and should be ready by February.

Then we have three more major projects that are in fundrasing:

$60M Hofheinz renovation
$8M Tennis complex
$20M football indoor practice facility

All should be finished by the 2018-19 school year or so.

It's almost like a major conference told us what we needed to do to be ready to move up.

[DfromCT]

We can't keep up with the Joneses....
http://www.chron.com/sports/cougars/art ... 279394.php

I have to be honest. I am THRILLED we are spending money on athletics facilities and coaches.

$25M stadium parking garage
$128M football stadium
$25M basketball practice facility opening in a couple of months
$5M in baseball renovations (field turf, new video board, etc)
$8M natatorium renovations just opened

Next up is the track renovation. Funded and should be ready by February.

Then we have three more major projects that are in fundrasing:

$60M Hofheinz renovation
$8M Tennis complex
$20M football indoor practice facility

All should be finished by the 2018-19 school year or so.

It's almost like a major conference told us what we needed to do to be ready to move up.

And where will Tulane stand vis a vis our competition for a Power Conference invite? So many think that New Orleans and AAU will get us into the Big 12 or ACC. Our facilities are way behind, and our on-field record would not withstand public scrutiny.

[Show Me]

We can't keep up with the Joneses....
http://www.chron.com/sports/cougars/art ... 279394.php

I have to be honest. I am THRILLED we are spending money on athletics facilities and coaches.

$25M stadium parking garage
$128M football stadium
$25M basketball practice facility opening in a couple of months
$5M in baseball renovations (field turf, new video board, etc)

We have parking covered and don't need to waste $25 million on a garage since we have access to two parking garages within walking distance. We have a football stadium. We have a great basketball practice facility. We have a turf baseball field already and we will have a new video board up for this season. What we don't have is room on campus and winning teams in the two major sports.

[CN Hide & Seek Team]

Uh is not a candidate for the Big12. Period. They just dont have the academic prestige for the Big 12 Presidents to wan to rub shoulders with their President. There are already four TX schools in the Big 12. If a TX gets added , it will be Rice.

Even though they were eliminated in 2011, BYU might be now for football only, but they were just granted P5 status for OOC play by the B1G. I expect any other P5 that requires P5 OOc games will follow suit, and then theyll have no reason to join a conference.

I think Cincinatti is a lock. Not AAu yet, but it is a top notch all-encompassing research institution in an NFL market with 32k students. And, their inclusion would be bad news for UK.

I think the list is going to be UC, Tulane, memphis(weak academics), Rice(longshot), BYU, UCF. And if there is a Big12 buy in into the LHN network, there'll be four schools added.

[jonathanjoseph]

We can't keep up with the Joneses....
http://www.chron.com/sports/cougars/art ... 279394.php

I have to be honest. I am THRILLED we are spending money on athletics facilities and coaches.

$25M stadium parking garage
$128M football stadium
$25M basketball practice facility opening in a couple of months
$5M in baseball renovations (field turf, new video board, etc)

We have parking covered and don't need to waste $25 million on a garage since we have access to two parking garages within walking distance. We have a football stadium. We have a great basketball practice facility. We have a turf baseball field already and we will have a new video board up for this season. What we don't have is room on campus and winning teams in the two major sports.

Let's not act like we don't have significant facilities needs. Houston clearly understands what P5's are looking for and is putting themselves in the best position possible. The bottom line is that if Tulane were doing the same thing, we would be a stone cold lock for a P5 conference. But we aren't.

[golfnut69]

Uh is not a candidate for the Big12. Period. They just dont have the academic prestige for the Big 12 Presidents to wan to rub shoulders with their President. There are already four TX schools in the Big 12. If a TX gets added , it will be Rice.

Even though they were eliminated in 2011, BYU might be now for football only, but they were just granted P5 status for OOC play by the B1G. I expect any other P5 that requires P5 OOc games will follow suit, and then theyll have no reason to join a conference.

I think Cincinatti is a lock. Not AAu yet, but it is a top notch all-encompassing research institution in an NFL market with 32k students. And, their inclusion would be bad news for UK.

I think the list is going to be UC, Tulane, memphis(weak academics), Rice(longshot), BYU, UCF. And if there is a Big12 buy in into the LHN network, there'll be four schools added.

With Texas A&M off ot the SEC and DeLoss Dodds, the U-H hater, gone from UT and with Steve Patterson the new AD at UT who grew up in Houston, his dad was GM of the Rockets...UH has a chance because of the TV market...the BIG 12 used A&M as the Houston anchor, that is now gone

[sader24]

If you don't think Houston has a chance at getting in the Big 12 you haven't been paying attention to what they've been doing the last 5 years. If the Big 12 takes 4 teams they are in. Outside of location Houston is the most attractive school out there and I would make an argument that location is in their favor as well. You really can't judge by the number of schools in the state when Houston has more population in its area than a few southern states. I think if it's 4 teams it's Cincy, Houston, Tulane, UCF. That would fix recruiting issues, add lots of TV sets, include a solid academic school, give WVA 2 eastern partners, encroach into both SEC and BIG territory. Memphis seems unlikely to me, but we'll see.

[Show Me]

We can't keep up with the Joneses....
http://www.chron.com/sports/cougars/art ... 279394.php

I have to be honest. I am THRILLED we are spending money on athletics facilities and coaches.

$25M stadium parking garage
$128M football stadium
$25M basketball practice facility opening in a couple of months
$5M in baseball renovations (field turf, new video board, etc)

We have parking covered and don't need to waste $25 million on a garage since we have access to two parking garages within walking distance. We have a football stadium. We have a great basketball practice facility. We have a turf baseball field already and we will have a new video board up for this season. What we don't have is room on campus and winning teams in the two major sports.

Let's not act like we don't have significant facilities needs. Houston clearly understands what P5's are looking for and is putting themselves in the best position possible. The bottom line is that if Tulane were doing the same thing, we would be a stone cold lock for a P5 conference. But we aren't.

We definitely need other facilities but many of the things Houston is doing we already have. We need some new meeting rooms and IPF. The stadium we have is fine for now. We only filled it once so far.

[jonathanjoseph]

We definitely need other facilities but many of the things Houston is doing we already have. We need some new meeting rooms and IPF. The stadium we have is fine for now. We only filled it once so far.

This is the kind of stuff that needs to be called out for the bull$hit that it is, and this thread is the perfect place to do it. The whole point of looking at Houston's facilities strategy is that they are preparing themselves so that they have what's needed to enter a P5 conference, not what was good enough for the AAC. Sort of like dressing for the job you want, not the job that you have.

If current attendance were all that mattered, Houston wouldn't have needed a stadium any bigger than Yulman last year either.

I just don't understand how this kind of obviously false and misguided viewpoint keeps being repeated and enough people believe it. Every football program in America could have better facilities given $100M.

[CougarRed]

Uh is not a candidate for the Big12. Period. They just dont have the academic prestige.

We might not get invited to the Big 12. If we don't get invited, it won't be because of academics.

In terms of average SAT scores and how many freshman graduated Top 10% in HS, Houston blows doors on Texas Tech, West Virginia, Kansas St and Oklahoma St. We aren't far behind Kansas,TCU, Iowa St and OU.

The only Big 12 schools that have a right to look down their academic nose at UH are Texas and Baylor.

Perhaps you haven't been paying attention to the progress we've made on the academic side.

[Show Me]

We definitely need other facilities but many of the things Houston is doing we already have. We need some new meeting rooms and IPF. The stadium we have is fine for now. We only filled it once so far.

This is the kind of stuff that needs to be called out for the bull$hit that it is, and this thread is the perfect place to do it. The whole point of looking at Houston's facilities strategy is that they are preparing themselves so that they have what's needed to enter a P5 conference, not what was good enough for the AAC. Sort of like dressing for the job you want, not the job that you have.

If current attendance were all that mattered, Houston wouldn't have needed a stadium any bigger than Yulman last year either.

I just don't understand how this kind of obviously false and misguided viewpoint keeps being repeated and enough people believe it. Every football program in America could have better facilities given $100M.

The main thing that matters is winning. If the BIG 12 said we want you Tulane but only if you play your conference games at the Superdome and the Arena we would do as told. The stadium we have is fine for now. It's got nothing to do with us getting into the Big 12. Winning and the TV market play a much bigger role with it. You can dump on stadium all day long but it's something we have to make work.

[golfnut69]

We can't keep up with the Joneses....
http://www.chron.com/sports/cougars/art ... 279394.php

Option 1 - at an estimated cost of $50.1 million – would have a seating capacity of 7,855 and include upgrades to the concourse levels. There would be 1,950 premium seats, among them 1,620 club seats, 18 loge boxes, four open-air suites, five suites and 90 courtside seats. An NBA arena-like bunker club would be built for VIP and fans with courtside seats.

Option 2 - at a cost of $59.5 million - would involve a reconfigured seating bowl that raises the court level three feet and moves seats closer to the court. There would be 2,048 premium seats – 1,750 club seats, 20 loge boxes, two open-air suites, four suites and 90 courtside seats.

Option 3: The most expensive at $85.3 million, includes a combination of the first two options along with $25.8 million to construct a new roof to make Hofheinz a multi-event center.

I have been to Hofheinz ( he is the same guy who wrote a check to build the Astrodome, no public funds or taxes were used) if they spend 50 mill for option 1 they are crazy !!!!... The "clientel" will never support all of the NBA type krap and the prices (no not the one's we want to get rid of) that go with it !!!... Hofheinz does not need a 50 million make over, it needs some upgrades but not 50 mill worth..someone, somewhere is getting one hell of a kick back