N.C. State AD Debbie Yow yesterday said that the school is "planning the stages of building" an indoor football practice facility near Carter-Finley Stadium. Yow said that she is hopeful the $14M facility "will be ready for spring practice" in '15. Yow said that the building will "be funded privately through the Wolfpack Club." In Raleigh, Joe Giglio notes former football coach Tom O’Brien "long lobbied for an indoor practice facility." Yow said that first-year coach Dave Doeren "asked about the facility before he was hired" (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 8/14).
DUCK COMMANDER: CNBC's Jane Wells yesterday gave several live reports from the Univ. of Oregon on the school's new $68M football facility. UO football coach Mark Helfrich said the best part is the "functionality" of the facility. Helfrich: "We've never had a space like this from an educational standpoint to actually teach and coach our guys." UO QB Marcus Mariota said the building "just kind of takes your breath away" ("Street Signs," CNBC, 8/13). Wells later told UO AD Rob Mullens the facility was "over the top." Mullens: "We're so fortunate. We have some recruiting disadvantages in other areas and fortunately, the generosity of Phil Knight ... has allowed us to make up some of those in the facilities" ("Squawk on the Street," CNBC, 8/13).
LET ME UPGRADE YA: In West Palm Beach, Dave George writes the Univ. of Miami's new Theodore G. Schwartz and Todd G. Schwartz Center for Athletic Excellence "replaces the 'ugh' factor of Miami’s cramped and outdated former football facilities, a drag on recruiting for decades." The center features an "expansive locker room and training center, complete with an entire floor devoted to computer labs and academic tutoring." UM "broke ground on this major improvement project" in '10 (PALM BEACH POST, 8/14).
BALLIN' OUT: In Indiana, Thomas St. Myer reported Ball State Univ. is "installing video screens in its football stadium and basketball arena." Scheumann Stadium will have a "jumbo high-definition video screen" that is 33 feet wide by 18 feet tall, and Worthen Arena will get a "high-definition LED screen, albeit on a slightly smaller scale." The school is "leasing the portable video boards for three years from Dodd Technologies Inc., and its sister company, ReelVideo Systems," for $1.1M. The screens "will cost $320,000 in the first year of the lease, $355,000 in year two and $390,000 in the third" (Muncie STAR PRESS, 8/11).
