Tim had a concept for the RAC, does Julie yet?

[Exit117]

Makes it kind of hard to get the heavy weights to pledge money without an idea of what a new or renovated RAC will look like.Does she have something to sell to them that hasn't gone public yet?

 

[bac2therac]

The RAC is not even the issue being debated right now..its about a practice facility

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

I don't know much about anything behind the scenes. However the last 2 years that RAC has morphed from a big high school gym to a respectable arena.

Scoreboard, sound systems, etc. have improved tremendously. the RAC is nothing to be embarassed by. In fact I think it is something that can be embraced with just a little on court success.

 

[KJRU]

I would like Julie to blow smoke and come up the grandest plan she can think of, even if she knows it'll never happen. I'm being sarcastic but I highly doubt that donors will start lining up just because we come up with a plan. The bigger problem is that our donor base has been neglected just as much as the program has been neglected. I think Julie and her staff are doing the work to get donors on board but it's not going to happen over night. More importantly, a strong commitment from the school would help her recruit potential donors far more than a plan that the school is not willing to invest in.

I don't remember the exact wording, but she stated that plans have been drawn up in the past only to be scrapped later, she doesn't want to do that again. I would imagine that any plan she comes up with has to be approved by the administration, the same administration that has made it clear they're not paying for it, so what's the point? I'm sure Julie has ideas and maybe even a plan in place but the fact is, by the time she raised the money to get shovels in the ground, we'd already be getting our full share of B1G money. So announcing a plan really wouldn't change anything. The only thing that will change the time line for getting something done is a huge donor or a commitment from the school. At this point, neither is happening.

 

[e5fdny]

Originally posted by Greene Rice FIG:
I don't know much about anything behind the scenes. However the last 2 years that RAC has morphed from a big high school gym to a respectable arena.

Scoreboard, sound systems, etc. have improved tremendously. the RAC is nothing to be embarassed by. In fact I think it is something that can be embraced with just a little on court success.

+1

 

[KJRU]

By the way, IMO, TP's concept for renovating the RAC, would've been a huge waste of money. To spend that much money on a building that seriously needs to be replaced was a crazy idea and he would've had the same challenges in raising the money as Julie is having now.

This is what decades of neglect will do to not only the bball program but the entire department. The crazy thing is that our athletic dept has pretty much struggled for decades due to a lack of financial commitment from the school, now that we're in the B1G the plan is to keep doing the same thing. IMO, that's insanity.

 

[Knightmoves]

Originally posted by Exit117:
Makes it kind of hard to get the heavy weights to pledge money without an idea of what a new or renovated RAC will look like.Does she have something to sell to them that hasn't gone public yet?

My understanding is that JH has said that she won't announce BB expansion plans until the funding is in place. That indicates that either there is no plan or that if a plan does exist it will be kicked down the road until B1G revenues are in place. That's why she told the Court Club that ten years out is a realistic time frame to have competitive BB facilities at RU.

I have read nothing about existing private fund raising efforts underway by the AD's office for a BB practice facility. The only thing we know is that feasibility studies are underway. BTW, can anyone describe what this type of feasibility study includes ? I can't tell if it's a smokescreen or if it is something tangible that represents a step forward in the process of a BB facilities expansion.

 

[bac2therac]

Originally posted by Knightmoves:

Originally posted by Exit117:
Makes it kind of hard to get the heavy weights to pledge money without an idea of what a new or renovated RAC will look like.Does she have something to sell to them that hasn't gone public yet?

My understanding is that JH has said that she won't announce BB expansion plans until the funding is in place. That indicates that either there is no plan or that if a plan does exist it will be kicked down the road until B1G revenues are in place. That's why she told the Court Club that ten years out is a realistic time frame to have competitive BB facilities at RU.

I have read nothing about existing private fund raising efforts underway by the AD's office for a BB practice facility. The only thing we know is that feasibility studies are underway. BTW, can anyone describe what this type of feasibility study includes ? I can't tell if it's a smokescreen or if it is something tangible that represents a step forward in the process of a BB facilities expansion.

the reality is that there is no money to build anything...she doesn't want to announce some grandiose pie in the sky plan like Pernetti did with multiple drawings and plans and no constructing date or committed money

 

[Scarlet Shack]

What Greene said

The RAC is fine...and so many visiting fans over the past 20 years say it is a GREAT place to watch a COLLEGE basketball game...just need to fix up the ammentities (which they have been doing). Win and people will again be talking about it as the best campus atmosphere for a college in the northeast

We need the SUPPORT facilities...because we have none

 

[KJRU]

All the years that Rutgers has been a D1 program it's coaches have recently moved out of cubicles and into offices. Its no wonder we can't attract coaches and in turn it's no wonder we struggle in recruiting, for decades no AD or President has addressed that simple issue, I'd be a little surprised if they did something as big as this.

Alot of folks wanted us to go after a big name coach over the years, imagine a big name coach interviewing only to find out he'd be working out of a cubicle. This department is small time and it shows on the court and on the playing fields.

 

[Jim_from_RU]

Originally posted by Scarlet Shack:

What Greene said

The RAC is fine...and so many visiting fans over the past 20 years say it is a GREAT place to watch a COLLEGE basketball game...just need to fix up the ammentities (which they have been doing). Win and people will again be talking about it as the best campus atmosphere for a college in the northeast

We need the SUPPORT facilities...because we have none

They're even putting in air conditioning at this very moment. New locker rooms and some other things and it's a pretty darn good arena.

It's the practice facility that is badly needed.

 

[S_Janowski]

Originally posted by Jim_from_RU:

Originally posted by Scarlet Shack:

What Greene said

The RAC is fine...and so many visiting fans over the past 20 years say it is a GREAT place to watch a COLLEGE basketball game...just need to fix up the ammentities (which they have been doing). Win and people will again be talking about it as the best campus atmosphere for a college in the northeast

We need the SUPPORT facilities...because we have none

They're even putting in air conditioning at this very moment. New locker rooms and some other things and it's a pretty darn good arena.

It's the practice facility that is badly needed.

Renovate/add some more bathrooms, replace the 300 level bleachers with seats, and put a winning product on the Floor and I would take the RAC any day of the week.

 

[ColonelRutgers]

Renovate/add some more bathrooms, replace the 300 level bleachers with seats, and put a winning product on the Floor and I would take the RAC any day of the week.

Next thing you know capacity will be down to 5,500. The place used to hold 9,000. The bleachers stay.

 

[Jim_from_RU]

Originally posted by ColonelRutgers:

Renovate/add some more bathrooms, replace the 300 level bleachers with seats, and put a winning product on the Floor and I would take the RAC any day of the week.

Next thing you know capacity will be down to 5,500. The place used to hold 9,000. The bleachers stay.

Agreed. Added chairbacks would drastically reduce capacity. Can't do.

 

[MADHAT1]

Julie's plan:
Get the funding then start building.
She can take the plans made by her predecessors and revise them to make the best fit , for the funding available.
Better to do it that way than make a big deal out of something that will be delayed until the money is there ( or close ) to put the plan in place.

 

[e5fdny]

Originally posted by Jim_from_RU:

Originally posted by ColonelRutgers:

Renovate/add some more bathrooms, replace the 300 level bleachers with seats, and put a winning product on the Floor and I would take the RAC any day of the week.

Next thing you know capacity will be down to 5,500. The place used to hold 9,000. The bleachers stay.

Agreed. Added chairbacks would drastically reduce capacity. Can't do.

You don't need seats in the 300's but you do need backs for them like in the Stadium.

Do that and it makes it a little more comfortable up there and no capacity decrease.

 

[snowboarder]

I don't buy the RAC excuse that is continually used to explain the failures of Rutgers Basketball over the last 30 years.
College basketball is about the head coach, period!! Good players will go anywhere to play for a good coach.
What kind of facilities did PJ have when he got Seton Hall within a point of winning the national championship?
The game time atmosphere is incredible at the RAC. It is intimidating and evokes a connection to earlier days of eastern college basketball. The fact that we practice on the court that we play on does not seem like a problem to me, We should make it our angle that we do it do give our players and advantage. To make them as comfortable as they can be with the surroundings of their home court. The RAC does need a facelift and improvement to our locker rooms and lounge areas.
The front of the rack needs to get an upgrade. The players need a good weight room, lounge and locker rooms. We do not need a new practice gym. The Livingston expansion should have helped basketball already. That campus has gone from being a wasteland to being a pretty exciting campus with great residence halls, retail stores and restaurants, a movie theatre and more. That alone should have helped Eddie. There is much that needs to be improved at Rutgers with regards to facilities.
Throwing exorbitant sums of money at facilities is foolish. What we need a comprehensive plan to improve the overall appearance of the athletic complexes of Busch and Livingston. Beautifying what we have in place can be done at a fraction of the cost. Landscaping, fences, lighting and user friendly walks could all add to the overall package at RU without a tremendously large commitment of money.

 

[Knight_Light]

Originally posted by snowboarder:
I don't buy the RAC excuse that is continually used to explain the failures of Rutgers Basketball over the last 30 years. College basketball is about the head coach, period!!

If that was the case...why do those programs with GREAT COACHES spend tens of millions of $$$$ on shiny new basketball practice facilities, arena renovations (sometimes even brand new arenas), charter plane service for every road game, huge recruiting budgets, high paid assistance, etc....?

Afterall..its just about the head coach, right?

 

[Knightmoves]

Originally posted by MADHAT1:
Julie's plan:
Get the funding then start building.
She can take the plans made by her predecessors and revise them to make the best fit , for the funding available.
Better to do it that way than make a big deal out of something that will be delayed until the money is there ( or close ) to put the plan in place.

Shouldn't the plans be reviewed and made public before building ? Not sure it's so easy to revise the existing plans to match the budgeted monies when they become available. Expect that it will take an entirely new design effort.

In any case we can take up this same discussion 5-8 years out when we get closer to an actual project plan. 2020 is just around the corner, right ?

 

[MADHAT1]

Originally posted by Knightmoves:

Originally posted by MADHAT1:
Julie's plan:
Get the funding then start building.
She can take the plans made by her predecessors and revise them to make the best fit , for the funding available.
Better to do it that way than make a big deal out of something that will be delayed until the money is there ( or close ) to put the plan in place.

Shouldn't the plans be reviewed and made public before building ? Not sure it's so easy to revise the existing plans to match the budgeted monies when they become available. Expect that it will take an entirely new design effort.

In any case we can take up this same discussion 5-8 years out when we get closer to an actual project plan. 2020 is just around the corner, right ?

Yes they should.
But before building and making it public doesn't mean years before, just when funding is close enough to start getting ready to put revisions or new plan in effect .

As for your 6-8 years before talking about it, you're probably right about that and even if Bob Mulcahy or Tim Pernetti the AD
the time-frame for that talk would be the same.
If funding becomes available before then , action on getting upgrades to the RU MBB program can be started.

RU MBB has been overlooked for a long time, so I wouldn't be surprised if it took till 2020 before helping the Basketball programs became a priority .
Right now , that is not the case.



This post was edited on 3/7 11:36 AM by MADHAT1