Big Ten Arena Renovations
Whoa, the Ryan's are quite impressive.
Wow
$110 million dollar bet on NU hoops? I'll take the under, whatever it is, on number of NCAA appearances by 2030.
$110 million dollar bet on NU hoops? I'll take the under, whatever it is, on number of NCAA appearances by 2030.
It is going to take more than pulling out the wooden bleachers of there high school gym to make NW legit. In fairness, I've never been there...but this just looks like an attempt to get the gym a bit closer to reasonable. Do you really think this is a game changer or just an attempt to not fall farther behind?
They've already had improved recruiting and this is only going to help. Are they going to become a big ten title contender in the next decade or so? Probably not, but I think they'll be a legit threat to make the tourney on a regular basis. Still a couple years away though.
Tevo
- Wilmette, IL
Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
- Bloomington, IL
They're keeping that horrible building rather than building new? Wow.
Someone with photo shop skills should make and accurate representation of games there in that rendering and put a bunch of the crowd in orange and blue.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
LOL, it looks exactly the same...
That would be an extra Illini home game :thumb:
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
We can use any help we can get, we are only 6-4 in our last 10 games @ Welsh.
Deleted member 3875
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Still a big high school gym.
It surely won't hurt recruiting, but to quote carmel above, it still looks like a big high school gym & I'm not convinced it really moves the needle enough. Replacing the wooden bleachers with real seats is needed, it gets you out of the "really bad, I didn't know real colleges still had wooden bleachers reaction", but I'm still not sure the recruit comes away thinking wow I want to play here.
Maybe not, but I guess we'll see. I think it looks pretty good and if they were able to get recruits to say yes to their old arena, they'll surely be more likely to give them a chance now that it won't look completely awful. The place will continue to have a good atmosphere, it's actually a pretty good place to watch a high level game. People look at one picture and think that it's absurd that 100 millions dollars is being put into it for just new seats, when really it's much more. The entire facility is being upgraded, including locker rooms, offices, and stuff that fans won't see but that recruits will really appreciate it. It won't top the SFC, or other top arenas in the country, but this gives recruits something that isn't a complete eye sore to go along with the huge incentive of playing in the Chicago area. I understand people not being impressed with what NU is doing with the renovation but if people can't see that they're becoming a respectable program, then they're blinded by the belief that NU can never compete with us.
How could we possibly know this?
Well they held the Final Four there in 1956.
Deleted member 10676
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I also watched West Aurora and Shaun Pruitt play Peoria and Shaun Livingston there in '04. Place was crazier than any game I've seen at W-R except for some Illinois-NU games in the late 80s. (Also was a great game for me because West clobbered Peoria and Pruitt probably had his best game as a prep.)
Actually, I've always liked going there although I agree it hasn't been up to snuff for a long time.
Actually, I've always liked going there although I agree it hasn't been up to snuff for a long time.
Youngster
I saw Corzine (Hersey) vs Whitehead (Waukegan) play there in 1974 Super Sectional. It was before ac and was hot as heck. Hersey won that one.