Just saw the new drawings for Calvin College's new basketball facility and looks really good. Just wondering what everyone's opinion on best basketball facility in D3 is?
http://www.calvin.edu/building/details/project/arena
This one's pretty nice. Its going to host the women's final four in March.
(https://www.d3boards.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hope.edu%2Fimg%2Ffieldhouse%2FDeVosMbb2.jpg&hash=70d983aeed13ba71ada9beab1f8030e2195fbbb2)
http://www.hope.edu/pr/campusdev/devos.html
When VanNoord is completed, theres little doubt Hope and Calvin will have two of the nicest facilities in Division 3. They've definately raised the bar.
Balance? A question for Calvin College: should Calvin, a self-declared primarily academic, liberal arts college, with an enrollment of 4200 and an endowment of approximately 70 million dollars be building a 35 million dollar athletic complex?
It's part of their overall fundraising capital campaign, which also has a component for endowment growth. It's not just for sports teams, either. It's for the entire campus.
Quote from: smedindy on February 05, 2008, 06:06:38 PM
It's part of their overall fundraising capital campaign, which also has a component for endowment growth. It's not just for sports teams, either. It's for the entire campus.
This discussion about Calvin piqued my curiosity.
Calvin (http://www.nacubo.org/documents/research/2006NES_Listing.pdf) is #373 on the 2006 NACUBO list. Their endowment grew by 19% from $69M to $82M in 2006.
I think that they need to add football. ;)
Frank, I can't speak to the Calvin situation, but there is a reason that Hope's complex is the DeVos (and another contender, IWU, has the Shirk) - if someone comes along offering $millions for a sports center, unless you are the world's greatest salesman and can talk them into chem labs instead you build a sports center! ;)
And lest I leave a misconception about these generous donors or their schools, I'm pretty sure that the DeVos and Shirk foundations have both been quite generous to Hope and IWU in other ways as well.
Mr Ypsi, where does IWU hold its commencements?
In the Shirk Center?
Quote from: Ralph Turner on February 05, 2008, 07:16:30 PM
Mr Ypsi, where does IWU hold its commencements?
In the Shirk Center?
I'm sure Q would know, but I've been a Michigander for almost 38 years!
My commencement was NOT in Fred Young Fieldhouse (though I can't remember where; did I go ???).
Yeah, and even still have the paper to prove it. ;) But in the Viet Nam era it was 'hip' to skip graduation as a protest. After all the bucks my folks shelled out, I imagine I was there, but I honesty don't recall it (perhaps another remnant of the Viet Nam era??). :D
Though now that I think of it, I believe the last couple of weeks were canceled (after Kent State, and attendant brou-ha-has). We may not have had an official graduation. I just have no recollection. (But I believe graduations in those days were generally in the chapel, not the fieldhouse.)
The City of Holland was takeing forever and a century to decide where to build, how much to spend, and how many ice rinks to have for a new community building which would undoubtedly have been Hope's new basketball home. On the day the city was finaly to decide what to spend and where, Hope stepped in and said they'd received a donation and were going to build they're own on campus facility. I am certain to this day, if that did not happen we would still not have a new facility in Holland.
Hope received a $7.5 million donation from the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation as seed money for a new arena. It was up to Hope to raise the rest of the funds to meet the $15 million cost, and that grew to around $22 million with some additions to the original concept.
Hope used a fund raising effort (called the Hope Legacy Fund I believe, or some other fancy name) to raise money for this project along with 2 other on campus academic buildings, which were both built first. Hope's Martha Miller Center for Global Communications and a large addition the Peale Science Center named the Paul Schaap Science Center, essentially doubling its size. Total cost of these two facilites was approximately $48 million dollars.
Martha Miller Center
(https://www.d3boards.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hope.edu%2Fpr%2Fimg%2Fphotogallery%2F06dMMCspring1400.jpg&hash=d8739e19e7a9119b057f2946e6240dc2a59f1aab)
Schaap Science Center
(https://www.d3boards.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hope.edu%2Fpr%2Fimg%2Fscience%2FScienceCenter.jpg&hash=42b2f5ae6777f32ceb31980f67147641e4b8da21)
The goal of the fundraising was $70 million dollars, Hope ended up raising close to $140 million dollars, which has allowed the college to renovate other academic and athletic buildings on campus. All have greatly enhanced Hope's academic and athletic facilities.
I do not know the makeup of Calvin's fundraising efforts, but I do know they've recently constructed new academic buildings at Calvin. It would not surprise me to hear Calvin raised a great deal more money than anticipated for these projects. The one common factor is the Richard and Helan DeVos Foundation made significant contributions to both colleges as a starting off point.
As far as athletics, while Hope and Calvin have exceptionally good athletic facilities vs their MIAA counterparts they are rather average when compared to other D3 colleges that I've visited. Both colleges needed these upgrades very badly and the biggest benefactor is the students.
Are we talking best basketball facility or best atmosphere?
Quote from: Ralph Turner on February 05, 2008, 07:16:30 PM
Mr Ypsi, where does IWU hold its commencements?
In the Shirk Center?
IWU holds commencement on the Eckley Quadrangle - "The ceremony is outdoors even in a light rain or cool temperatures and we encourage you to prepare appropriately. In the event of heavy rains or weather alerts, we will relocate the ceremony and reception to the Shirk Center on campus. "
Quote from: Old School.... (Tom Doebler) on February 06, 2008, 06:30:41 PM
Are we talking best basketball facility or best atmosphere?
The answer is the same. ;) :D
Calvin has held graduation in the fieldhouse, and plans are to continue doing so in the new facility. The new fieldhouse is 500 seats larger, and has a/c. The fieldhouse is designed as multi use., and I think Calvin was going for practical use more than palace. The fund raising campaign is for something like 160 million, and includes the new fieldhouse, new swim arena, indoor couts for tennis or soceer, and a restructuring/remodeling of the currrent fieldhouse. Also in the plan endowment funds, scholarship funds, renovate the fine Arts Center, renovate enlarge Commons building/Bookstore, so it involves much more than just athletics. Calvin for years did not do much in the way of fund raising or endowments so part of this is really playing catchup for them. Sac is correct that Calvin and Hope share some donors in common.
We English-speaking types, of course, get it wrong. But do we care?
QuoteThrough the centuries, Vietnam has been called by many different names: Văn Lang during the Hùng Vương Dynasty, Âu Lạc during the An Dương Vương dynasty, Van Xuan during the Anterior Lý Dynasty, Đại Cồ Việt during the Đinh dynasty and Anterior Lê Dynasty. Starting in 1054, Vietnam was called Đại Việt (Great Viet). During the Hồ Dynasty, Vietnam was called Đại Ngu. Then, in 1804, King Gia Long planned to use the name of Nam Việt for Vietnam but the Qing dynasty of China disagreed and changed it to Việt Nam. In English, the two syllables were written into one: Vietnam. From 1839 to 1945, Emperor Minh Mạng renamed Việt Nam to Đại Nam.
The name Việt Nam had been used for this country before it became the official name in "Dư địa chí" of Nguyễn Trãi written in 1435 and perhaps even before. "Việt" is the name of the largest ethnic group in Vietnam: the Kinh (người Kinh) and "Nam" means "the South", affirming Vietnam's sovereignty from China (usually called "North country" to Vietnamese people).
So Vietnam has the best DIII facility...? ??? :P
NYU is gorgeous, Coles Center, too bad the crowds don't show up :(
Hope does have a gorgeous place to play. I have also heard that Wartburg has just built an amazing place.
Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on February 07, 2008, 11:14:14 PM
Boy, are you young! ;D
I was born in Saigon during the Vietnam war...was one of the last flights out of South Vietnam before the fall of Saigon, so if that constitutes being young, well then I am! lol ;D :D ;) :P
Quote from: Old School.... (Tom Doebler) on February 12, 2008, 06:34:38 PM
Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on February 07, 2008, 11:14:14 PM
Boy, are you young! ;D
I was born in Saigon during the Vietnam war...was one of the last flights out of South Vietnam before the fall of Saigon, so if that constitutes being young, well then I am! lol ;D :D ;) :P
Since I sweated out getting
sent to Nam, yeah, you are young! ;D
Actually, that's an exaggeration about something I usually don't joke about - I had deferrals on so many grounds that I truly wished I could have passed the extras around to buddies (one of whom didn't come back). RIP, Ron. :'(
(https://www.d3boards.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyu.edu%2Fathletics%2Fimages%2Fphotos%2Fbasketball%2Fm%2FL_8TearItUp2.jpg&hash=426987b528f012807f0a7f290b49621164b9ed1c)
Only image I could find of NYU, is that the Cole Center?
(https://www.d3boards.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wartburg.edu%2Fwellness%2F1408%2Fimages%2FDSCN1669.jpg&hash=2427f94a9980fb41de596ba465f57ff2cc8901a8)
Wartburg's Levick Arena
the other photos of the whole facility are worth a look. Very impressive looking place.
http://www.wartburg.edu/wellness/1408/index.htm
A link to drawings and a pretty cool 3d flyover
http://www.the-w.org/facility.html
Quote from: Old School.... (Tom Doebler) on February 12, 2008, 06:34:38 PM
Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on February 07, 2008, 11:14:14 PM
Boy, are you young!
I was born in Saigon during the Vietnam war...was one of the last flights out of South Vietnam before the fall of Saigon, so if that constitutes being young, well then I am!
Wow, I didn't know you were so old.
Quote from: sac on February 12, 2008, 08:41:41 PM
Wartburg's Levick Arena
the other photos of the whole facility are worth a look. Very impressive looking place.
http://www.wartburg.edu/wellness/1408/index.htm
A link to drawings and a pretty cool 3d flyover
http://www.the-w.org/facility.html
That reminds me a bunch of the Bruner Center at Illinois College - in fact, some of it looks identical (like the concourse).
http://www.ic.edu/athletics/facilities/
Some pictures of Illinois Wesleyan's Shirk Center...
(https://www.d3boards.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwuhoops.com%2FShirk2.JPG&hash=936bce7abe15d79e8593e5aab6615845141c270a)
(https://www.d3boards.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwuhoops.com%2Fshirk9.jpg&hash=bde546aee6efd5847bba1a90ea733b3a1524a6b2)
(https://www.d3boards.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwuhoops.com%2Fshirk%2Crec.jpg&hash=485034a011dce0584bdb1d31e6c457a8e72062a1)
Yes, that was NYU's Coles Center. I've only been there twice but the crowds were great each time.
With over 12,000 in full time undergraduates the crowds ought to be great.
12,000 students at nyu, yes but only about 2,000 of those students have ever heard of basketball and only about 500 of those students know that NYU has a team. People go to NYU because they want to be in the city, not because it's a good school and not because it's got an excellent D3 athletic program. That's a shame because Coles is a great facility and NYU puts together an excellent team every year.
Oh well...at least NYU draws a crowd. The only other Manhattan D3 school that gets a good size audience is Hunter, and their crowds aren't even that big. Baruch/John Jay/CCNY = nill crowd.
Coles is also a great place for pickup basketball (if you like dunking on 5'7'' mathematics majors, this is the place to play).
U of R's gym is one of the best in D3 in my opinion, btw.
In the winter of 1964 I, being a non-basketball player and a 28 year old graduate student, played in a four man pick-up game in the intra-mural gym of the University of Michigan with a future Packer punter, a future 49ers LB and a future Colts safety, all three then freshmen. It was the LB and the punter against the safey and the spastic. Both the LB and the safety could stuff. The safety and I were competive as a team because of his abilities. Interesting event to say the least.
Quote from: frank uible on February 16, 2008, 12:20:38 PM
In the winter of 1964 I, being a non-basketball player and a 28 year old graduate student, played in a four man pick-up game in the intra-mural gym of the University of Michigan with a future Packer punter, a future 49ers LB and a future Colts safety, all three then freshmen. It was the LB and the punter against the safey and the spastic. Both the LB and the safety could stuff. The safety and I were competive as a team because of his abilities. Interesting event to say the least.
Mr NWOAL Everything from Wauseon, OH - Rick Volk per chance?
It was Volk, a 2nd round pick in the 1967 NFL draft and a 12 year player in the NFL - mostly with the Colts.
Though I'm partial to our home gym of the Quandt fieldhouse, it's only the best facility if you're a Pointer...
Of the places I've seen (that haven't previously been mentioned) I really like Rose Hulman. Watched the Pointer women win a National Championship there, and it's a very nice facility!
Way way back in the day, CCNY used to pack 'em in. Of course, then things happened, as it were...
Here's a couple looks at Rose-Hulman's Sports and Rec Center
(https://www.d3boards.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rose-hulman.edu%2Fsports%2Ffacilities%2Fsrc.jpg&hash=1743221c08d3d41dba37bae6ee644cb1292df686)
Hulbert Arena
(https://www.d3boards.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rose-hulman.edu%2Fsports%2Ffacilities%2Fhulbertarena.jpg&hash=09949202297af0b38f5915f0b96f79061c20c2bb)
The Jerome S. Coles Center at NYU is awesome.
Quote from: NYBB on February 16, 2008, 04:40:22 AM
12,000 students at nyu, yes but only about 2,000 of those students have ever heard of basketball and only about 500 of those students know that NYU has a team. People go to NYU because they want to be in the city, not because it's a good school and not because it's got an excellent D3 athletic program. That's a shame because Coles is a great facility and NYU puts together an excellent team every year.
Oh well...at least NYU draws a crowd. The only other Manhattan D3 school that gets a good size audience is Hunter, and their crowds aren't even that big. Baruch/John Jay/CCNY = nill crowd.
Coles is also a great place for pickup basketball (if you like dunking on 5'7'' mathematics majors, this is the place to play).
U of R's gym is one of the best in D3 in my opinion, btw.
Half the crowd at Hunter games are actually looking for the Subway.
The Kenyon Athletic Center:
(https://www.d3boards.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww1.kenyon.edu%2Fathleticcenter%2Fimages%2Fwallpaper%2FKAC_outside_800_600.jpg&hash=9e422d0341adfcc7cab225acc75043abbb6f86fb)
Tomsich Arena (within the KAC):
(https://www.d3boards.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fathletics.kenyon.edu%2FImages%2FRandomImageBank%2FAthletics%2FFACILITIES%2520-%2520TomsichMulti.jpg&hash=85431705ed6ef24b519893c6d5f1859a549ca35c)
(https://www.d3boards.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fgalleries.kenyon.edu%2Fgalleries%2Fwomenbasketball%2FWomensBasketball200708%2FWomensBasketball200708120345526619.jpg&hash=03697a8ac91276a51b1d6c4926bab78b542671d6)
Interactive photo tour (http://www1.kenyon.edu/athleticcenter/index.phtml)
Video tour (http://www1.kenyon.edu/athleticcenter/video.html)
Specifications (http://athletics.kenyon.edu/x22536.xml)
http://www.umhb.edu/athletics/cbasketball/facilities.html (http://www.umhb.edu/athletics/cbasketball/facilities.html)
Being a newbie among you giants I hesitate to venture an opinion, but here goes- alot of the SUNYAC schools in NY have really nice facilities (hell they get to use our tax dollars). Buff State Sports arena seats 3500 and is very nice. Oneonta's Dewar Complex claims to seat 4000. Cortland State's Corey gym seats 3500. All that being said the 2 best atmosphere's and total package places I've attended were U of R Palestra during the Chase tournament just a fabulous older facility and my personal favorite NYU's Cole. Was there when the student body was on break but there was still good crowd with a sensational live jazz pep band and a dance troupe that looked like something you would see on TV. The entire facility is pretty much below grade so when you enter you are looking down and to me it was a really cool effect. I might give Hamilton College an honorable mention decent 2000 seat facility but the football team dresses up in costumes (ie: a big yellow banana, SpongeBob SquarePants etc) and stands along one baseline and harrasses the other team for the whole game. It was really quite entertaining.
Hope has an amazing place. The basketball facility is really neat. I haven't seen Wartburg's yet, even though I live in Southern Minnesota. Here is a link though.
www.the-w.org
wow...SUNY Buffalo's arena is SICK!
(https://www.d3boards.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.buffalostate.edu%2Fathletics%2FImages%2Fsportsarena.jpg&hash=ce8031569691641d116cdd5d2b4180960648b45c)
SUNY Buffalo's Sports Arena
I think the best facility should be judged on the quality of its condiments...
;) :D :P :P
I generally judge by the quality of the hot dogs. WPU is the best in the NJAC, even if they do play in a barn. NJCU is probably second now, then montclair, then ramapo.
I am not sure of the quality of the NYU dogs, but who needs them when Grays Papaya is only a block from the 9th st path station on the way to NYU.
Quote from: smedindy on February 19, 2008, 07:10:18 PM
I think the best facility should be judged on the quality of its condiments...
;) :D :P :P
Well we all know who wins the D3 condiment game. ;)
(https://www.d3boards.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hope.edu%2Fimg%2Ffieldhouse%2F05ddevosconstruct145.jpg&hash=d1a934c96f39212bbf00b06760cef80c404fa8f5)
I'm going to put a plug in for Indiana University for best college football stadium, the hot dogs are amazing. 8) I think they were Eisenberg's hot dogs.
The Kern Center at M.S.O.E. in Milwaukee, WI is very nice as well.
OKAY, lets see, Coles is nice, but not amazing however to say crowds do not show up, is just plain inaccurate especially during UAA season and "tear it up" events, when they are often over capacity.
next IWU and Rose Hulman have fantastic facilities and have hosted the NCAA indoor track championships the past two years, however at RHIT, the bball gym is nice but not as nice as the rest of the facility (see outdoor picture on previous page).
Kenyon's facility that they just built I believe cost around 99 million and is almost entirely glass (I hope they dont throw any stones), however their game just does not match their facility as of yet, so it is not really on the map.
Hope is the class of d3 stadiums, and Calvin is clearly trying to match that, and it is impressive that they do so with rather meager endowments. Imagine what Chicago or NYU could do with more space to work with, as they clearly have the money. (CHICAGO raised $2 Billion over the last few years, and has likea 7 billion+ endowment).
The Capital Center at Capital University is also a very nice building. Unfortunately they don't provide pictures on their website so you'll have to read about it.
http://www.capital.edu/163/
Baldwin-Wallace should be thrown in the hat for best athletic archives. I imagine very few D3's have a Hall of Fame area as good or as complete as theirs.
As for Chicago, The Ratner Center is only a few years old.
(https://www.d3boards.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fathletics.uchicago.edu%2Ffacilities%2Fratner-compgym%2Fimages%2FPicture1.jpg&hash=037752f96856d513f5ea091fd376259f69d3d154)
Quote from: sac on March 11, 2008, 03:28:43 PM
The Capital Center at Capital University is also a very nice building. Unfortunately they don't provide pictures on their website so you'll have to read about it.
Yes, it is. Of the arenas I get to on a regular or semi-regular basis, it's my second-favorite (behind Kenyon, "game" or no "game"--and oh by the way the Ladies won 20 games this season.) Very nice in every respect.
Quote from: sac on March 11, 2008, 03:28:43 PMBaldwin-Wallace should be thrown in the hat for best athletic archives. I imagine very few D3's have a Hall of Fame area as good or as complete as theirs.
Yes, this is so; but the gym itself sucks. Kind of like Ohio Northern (which sucks harder), there's a wide buffer zone between the sidelines and the bleachers, and then the bleachers rise up at a very shallow angle from there. When I last went there, I felt like I was half a mile from the floor even though I was only about 15 rows up.
Quote from: David Collinge on March 11, 2008, 03:37:29 PM
Yes, this is so; but the gym itself sucks. Kind of like Ohio Northern (which sucks harder), there's a wide buffer zone between the sidelines and the bleachers, and then the bleachers rise up at a very shallow angle from there. When I last went there, I felt like I was half a mile from the floor even though I was only about 15 rows up.
Yeah, we noted that. Those of us there believe we could have fit our entire 2700 seat Holland Civic Center inside the front row and the sidelines, DeVos might be close as well. Big difference in environment.
The House that Jerry built is a very nice gym. Also named after Jerry Welsh former coach at Potsdam State. To bad there haven't been any fans in there for college basketball since the 80's :( :( :( :( :( :(
Go to Potsdam.edu/Athletics. You will see some photo's
(https://www.d3boards.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.potsdam.edu%2Fmedia%2F300C7F9EBE60060DD39EB3CE9830D0DCgymlg.jpg&hash=10be80adbcebb9839dc0e1dd96dcf4518dd91720)
Potsdam State, Welsh Gymnasium
360 view here
http://www.potsdam.edu/sports/media/gym.mov
Quote from: sac on March 19, 2008, 08:24:33 PM
(https://www.d3boards.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.potsdam.edu%2Fmedia%2F300C7F9EBE60060DD39EB3CE9830D0DCgymlg.jpg&hash=10be80adbcebb9839dc0e1dd96dcf4518dd91720)
Potsdam State, Welsh Gymnasium
360 view here
http://www.potsdam.edu/sports/media/gym.mov
Dedicated in honor of Jerry Welsh, basketball coach and administrator from 1979-1991. Coach Welsh established a tradition of success with two national titles and several team accomplishments during his tenure. The Jerry Welsh Gymnasium is also home to the women's volleyball program and has a seating capacity of 3200.
While I do enjoy all of the new facilities that have been built. (For example, Wartburg College just finished theirs at the beginning of last season.) I still enjoy the feel of an old gym. It just screams the love of basketball.
If you love old gyms, check out Hayes Gym on the campus of the College of Mount St. Vincent in the Riverdale section of the Bronx.
P.S. Bring some ear plugs because this place really screams the love of basketball.
http://bearsports.wustl.edu/facilities/FieldHouse.html
Hendrix's newly built Grove Gymnasium is pretty nice.
http://www.hendrix.edu/EventsNews/athletics.aspx?id=17454
My favorite place to play was at UT Tyler.
http://www.uttyler.edu/athletics/facilities/
UMHB is another nice place to play, but I believe Ozarks has the best atmosphere. Our students are involved in every game, no matter who we are playing or how good we are doing that year.
I still think that Hope and UT-Tyler have the best overall facilities that I have seen. Wartburg's is pretty impressive too. Here is a link to most of their facilities.
http://www.wartburg.edu/vtour/thew.html
Quote from: ASCfan237 on September 24, 2008, 11:21:36 AM
My favorite place to play was at UT Tyler.
http://www.uttyler.edu/athletics/facilities/
UMHB is another nice place to play, but I believe Ozarks has the best atmosphere. Our students are involved in every game, no matter who we are playing or how good we are doing that year.
Ozaks facilities are horrible. My vote also goes to UT-Tyler.
Thought this would be a good place to post this. NJCU naming the center basketball court at the Moore Center the Charlie Brown Court (http://www.njcugothicknights.com/news/2008/11/2/11-01-08_MBASKETBALL_CHARLIE_BROWN_COURT.aspx?path=mbasket). I was hoping they would do something like this for Coach Brown.
I'll put my nod in for Christopher Newport's facility.
The home opener for USM is tuesday against UNE, after all the off season work UNE put in do you think it will pay off for a win tuesday night? please give both boys and girls opinions as they are one after the other. come to the game and show your support. follow this link http://usm.maine.edu/athletics/ and print off the coupon for a chance at free food, and a new ipod!
With the opening of the Spoelhof Fieldhouse Complex and the Van Noord Arena, this discussion is over, friends. Follow this link to see what most observers have called the premier facilty in DIII.
http://www.calvin.edu/news/2008-09/SFC-opening/
shouldn't it be one of those rediculous 10,000 student D3's in Wisconsin?
UPS holds 4000 and there isn't a bad seat in the house :) but i'm sure there's better somewhere
Quote from: Tglassman55 on March 06, 2009, 04:55:41 PM
shouldn't it be one of those rediculous [sic] 10,000 student D3's in Wisconsin?
UPS holds 4000 and there isn't a bad seat in the house :) but i'm sure there's better somewhere
Uh, I dunno what ax you have to grind with the WIAC schools, but if you are still bitter about getting knocked out by UWSP in 04 and 05, Point's enrollment was about 8700, not 10,000...
FYI, only 2 WIAC schools are over 10k for enrollment (UWEC and UWO). UWW is just under 10k, over if you count grad students. In terms of facilities for those 3, UWO is like an airplane hangar... seats over 5k and is only full for high school games. EC is old with bi-level seating on both sidelines. I'd imagine it would be a tough place to play in when packed... but it was never packed when we played there and EC is winless against Point in the last 18 meetings...
Whitewater is a nice gym and there are lots of big games played there, so atmosphere gets thrown in, but it isn't the best in the conference, let alone the country. That title belongs to Point, and the gym will be getting some additional cosmetic upgrades in the off season.
UPS has some nice facilities and did a good job combining old and new with their renovation in 1995. And in the first game we played in front of 1800 was decent... but it wasn't even half full. Compared to Gustavus Adolphus, it wasn't much, and ESPECIALLY wasn't in front of 200 on the second night...
Quote from: PointSpecial on March 07, 2009, 01:38:14 AM
Quote from: Tglassman55 on March 06, 2009, 04:55:41 PM
shouldn't it be one of those rediculous [sic] 10,000 student D3's in Wisconsin?
UPS holds 4000 and there isn't a bad seat in the house :) but i'm sure there's better somewhere
Uh, I dunno what ax you have to grind with the WIAC schools, but if you are still bitter about getting knocked out by UWSP in 04 and 05, Point's enrollment was about 8700, not 10,000...
FYI, only 2 WIAC schools are over 10k for enrollment (UWEC and UWO). UWW is just under 10k, over if you count grad students. In terms of facilities for those 3, UWO is like an airplane hangar... seats over 5k and is only full for high school games. EC is old with bi-level seating on both sidelines. I'd imagine it would be a tough place to play in when packed... but it was never packed when we played there and EC is winless against Point in the last 18 meetings...
Whitewater is a nice gym and there are lots of big games played there, so atmosphere gets thrown in, but it isn't the best in the conference, let alone the country. That title belongs to Point, and the gym will be getting some additional cosmetic upgrades in the off season.
UPS has some nice facilities and did a good job combining old and new with their renovation in 1995. And in the first game we played in front of 1800 was decent... but it wasn't even half full. Compared to Gustavus Adolphus, it wasn't much, and ESPECIALLY wasn't in front of 200 on the second night...
Is the naming of the court the only thing they are doing at Point or is there more in store for Quandt this summer?
Quote from: hickory_cornhusker on March 08, 2009, 04:57:41 PM
Quote from: PointSpecial on March 07, 2009, 01:38:14 AM
Quote from: Tglassman55 on March 06, 2009, 04:55:41 PM
shouldn't it be one of those rediculous [sic] 10,000 student D3's in Wisconsin?
UPS holds 4000 and there isn't a bad seat in the house :) but i'm sure there's better somewhere
Uh, I dunno what ax you have to grind with the WIAC schools, but if you are still bitter about getting knocked out by UWSP in 04 and 05, Point's enrollment was about 8700, not 10,000...
FYI, only 2 WIAC schools are over 10k for enrollment (UWEC and UWO). UWW is just under 10k, over if you count grad students. In terms of facilities for those 3, UWO is like an airplane hangar... seats over 5k and is only full for high school games. EC is old with bi-level seating on both sidelines. I'd imagine it would be a tough place to play in when packed... but it was never packed when we played there and EC is winless against Point in the last 18 meetings...
Whitewater is a nice gym and there are lots of big games played there, so atmosphere gets thrown in, but it isn't the best in the conference, let alone the country. That title belongs to Point, and the gym will be getting some additional cosmetic upgrades in the off season.
UPS has some nice facilities and did a good job combining old and new with their renovation in 1995. And in the first game we played in front of 1800 was decent... but it wasn't even half full. Compared to Gustavus Adolphus, it wasn't much, and ESPECIALLY wasn't in front of 200 on the second night...
Is the naming of the court the only thing they are doing at Point or is there more in store for Quandt this summer?
There's more in store. They're going to update the lighting in Quandt and change the entrance concourse (pretty significantly, too). They're going to add murals and trophy cases, knock out the wall to the right as you walk in the entrance to enhance the entrance experience.
Quote
Fundraising for this project started fall 2008 and all of the funds from the campaign will be used for the floor naming, Quandt gym renovations, and remodeling of Quandt lobby.
This is one of the official releases that tells about the improvements.
In a letter to boosters (from Terry Porter) a section states:
QuoteTo preserve the UWSP basketball history, recruit and retain quality players and coaches, showcase the many Pointer success stories, and to make this project worthy of two great coaches, Quandt lobby and Quandt gym will be renovated as a part of the project. The renovation will feature new custom display cases, wall murals, new lighting in the gym and lobby, a national championship display, and donor recognition that helps "tell" the Pointer story.
Terry Porter has quite a way with words doesn't he. ;)
Quote from: PointSpecial on March 07, 2009, 01:38:14 AM
Quote from: Tglassman55 on March 06, 2009, 04:55:41 PM
shouldn't it be one of those rediculous [sic] 10,000 student D3's in Wisconsin?
UPS holds 4000 and there isn't a bad seat in the house :) but i'm sure there's better somewhere
Uh, I dunno what ax you have to grind with the WIAC schools, but if you are still bitter about getting knocked out by UWSP in 04 and 05, Point's enrollment was about 8700, not 10,000...
UPS has some nice facilities and did a good job combining old and new with their renovation in 1995. And in the first game we played in front of 1800 was decent... but it wasn't even half full. Compared to Gustavus Adolphus, it wasn't much, and ESPECIALLY wasn't in front of 200 on the second night...
I love the ax to grind play on words :-D but no, i don't I was being serious. I figure a school with that many people would have a lot of money. I wasn't mad or bitter or any emotion that I think you thought I had :)
UPS just got a new face lift, it's true it's hard to fill a place that big and our administration sucks at getting the word out about the games to the public so unfortunatly, it may never be. The only time I've ever seen it completely full was when Hillary Clinton came and gave a speech there :-D
everyone is so touchy on these boards...
Quote from: Tglassman55 on March 08, 2009, 09:02:07 PM
I figure a school with that many people would have a lot of money.
No, see you forgot that we're all public schools. The fast food industry just isn't conducive to big giving. ;)
Seriously, while the UW schools can do some pretty good fundraising due to their numbers (Whitewater has one very generous benefactor in particular), were still very much at the mercy of the State government, and there's 13 campuses that all have their hand out. Plus the State of Wisconsin is 6 million in debt at the moment so our collegiate athletic facilities are staying as is.
We do tend to have larger facilities due to our enrollment numbers. A school with 8,000 students needs a bigger weight room than one with 1,000 students, naturally.
Is there any new buildings going up this summer? Isn't St. Thomas opening up a new building next year?
Toss in Fontbonne University to your list of very nice facilities. It gets rave reviews from the DI teams who have used it during Final Fours and NCAA regionals. It also is the favorite of many of the Valley teams during the MVC Conference Tournament.
My d3 experience has been mostly limited to the northeast, and the smaller schools there at that. However, we spent a day over labor day weekend with my wife's uncle in Bloomngton (he teaches at IWU) and got to see Shirk. It's a great facility and the indoor track is pretty darn impressive.
For atmosphere, I dont think theres anything better than Pomona-Pitzer at CMS in Ducey Gym.
As OxyBob calls it, "The Temple of Doom" is a box of a gym, but when it comes to CMS-PP, theres no better place to be.
Well I just saw this topic today while waiting to watch denison's lacrosse game so I thought I might add my opinion. By far the nicest athletic center I have seen is Kenyon's(the house that Paul built). The nicest basketball arena I have seen is capital's. The most interesting(that is in no way knocking it) is Ohio Wesleyan's. Every time I go there I feel like I am in church. The worst is a naia school, Mt. Vernon Nazarene.
david
hope college
From the pictures I just looked at of Hope's facilities it is hard to say anything is better then Hope's. Now the worst I have seen. Well they don't play basketball at this facility anymore(just hockey) and it is d1, but yost field house at michigan tops the list for out of date facilities. That being it said it is a great place to watch a sporting event.
david
Hendrix College and Wabash are two of the top Athletic and Basketball facilities in D3. See The Princeton Review Top 25 Athletic Facilities Review which lists includes all Divisions in the NCAA from D1 to D3. Wabash was listed 8th I believe in the review and Hendrix College in Conway Arkansas was listed 13th.
Quote from: d3hendrixpop50 on August 21, 2011, 12:37:26 AM
Hendrix College and Wabash are two of the top Athletic and Basketball facilities in D3. See The Princeton Review Top 25 Athletic Facilities Review which lists includes all Divisions in the NCAA from D1 to D3. Wabash was listed 8th I believe in the review and Hendrix College in Conway Arkansas was listed 13th.
I do look at that ranking from time to time. I like it. It rates just facilities that are available for the regular student... For example, the football and lifting facilities (and other varsity sports facilities) of Big12, SEC, Big10 etc aren't compared to those of D3.
I maybe a homer, but the Feldman Arena at the O'Neil center is a great facility, the best in the Little East, and one of the best in the Northeast.
Hope and Calvin are both Division 1 Caliber in Atmosphere and the actual arena. So they're pretty hard to compete with, but i think UT-Tyler and Mary Hardin Baylor both have great Gyms. I would say UMHB has the slight edge on UT-Tyler with extra seating connecting the end zone area and the normal area and their luxury box, but UT-Tyler has that hanging scoreboard. So kind of a toss up there.