It's Official: OSU Breaks Ground On Basketball Practice Facility
June 21, 2012
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Words like "monumental" and "historic" were accompanied with "thanks" and "support" on Thursday when the Oregon State Athletic Department held a groundbreaking ceremony for a state-of-the-art basketball practice facility.
More than 200 people attended the ceremony, including Beaver legends A.C. Green, Gary Payton, Steve Johnson, Mark Radford and Ray Blume, among other former players, which quite possibly is the single most significant happening to the Oregon State men's and women's basketball programs in decades.
The 34,500-square-foot, four-story, $15 million structure will feature two regulation basketball courts, locker rooms, training facilities and staff offices. It will be completed in the spring of next year and be located directly behind Gill Coliseum and just north of the Sports Performance Center off Ralph Miller Drive.
Speakers at the official groundbreaking included Oregon State President Dr. Edward Ray, Director of Athletics Bob De Carolis, head basketball coaches Craig Robinson and Scott Rueck, and student-athlete Roberto Nelson.
They all thanked the donors for their support and spoke about the importance of a building from announcing that the Beavers are ready to compete with the best to the recruiting advantage it gives both programs to the continuing changing of the landscape on the OSU campus.
Some key quotes from the ceremony from each speaker were:
"Obviously, one of our areas of greatest need in athletics was in basketball where our limited facilities put a premium on practice time," Dr. Ray said. "Thanks to this facility, we will be in a strong position to compete at the highest level going forward."
"It's a great day to be a Beaver," De Carolis said. "I think at the end of the day this sends a strong message to our student-athletes that we are committed. It sends a strong message to our donors that we are committed. And it sends a strong message to our competitors that we are going to compete; that we are going to come after them."
"One of my favorite quotes is: `even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there' " Rueck said. "None of us came here to get run over. We came here to compete at the highest level. This facility is going to allow us to compete for the student-athletes we need and give us the opportunity to teach and train them to compete at that level."
"This is a monumental day," Robinson said. "We are changing things around here. This raises the bar for us. We want to be an elite program. We want to win the Pac-12. We don't just want to be in the Pac-12. We want to go to the NCAA Tournament annually. And we want to graduate 100 percent of our players. The impact of this facility is going to help us do that."
It was Nelson who stated the most important aspect of the completion of the building:
"Being a student-athlete, this definitely opens up a lot for us," he said. "It helps us out because with classes and needing to practice at specific times, it can take a toll when we are trying to register for classes. This definitely helps me out as a student in being able to register for classes and to take classes that are the important ones at the right times in the day. So thank you very much."
Both basketball teams hit the 20-win plateau and advanced to postseason competition in the recently completed seasons, with both coaches exclaiming that it will be the norm in future years with the addition of the new practice facility.
To watch a recap of the groundbreaking ceremony, please access the YouTube link below:
Basketball Season Tickets
Fans now have the opportunity to secure men's and/or women's basketball season tickets for the 2012-13 season. A $50 deposit guarantees the best available seats after renewing tickets holders have been assigned, while saving significantly on single-game ticket orders and giving priority to purchase postseason tickets. New season ticket orders will be assigned in order of deposit date in early October.
Click on the following links to purchase men's basketball season tickets and women's basketball season tickets.
Support Oregon State University Athletics by making your tax deductible donation to the Beaver Athletic Student Fund. For more information follow this link or call 541-737-2370. Former Student-Athletes are invited to join the Varsity O Facebook Page for upcoming Alumni events.
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