The Univ. of Memphis on Wednesday announced that it has received 60% of the funds "needed to construct new practice facilities for football and men’s basketball -- and expects groundbreaking for an indoor football practice facility late next month," according to a front-page piece by Phil Stukenborg of the Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL. Memphis AD Tom Bowen said that $24M of a $40M "Time to Shine” athletics capital campaign "had been raised." The school said that the 76,000-square-foot, climate-controlled football facility and the 58,000-square-foot basketball facility, "also set for groundbreaking this fall, are scheduled to be 'substantially completed'" before the '17-18 academic year. Stukenborg noted for UM to make itself "attractive to possible future expansion/realignment in Power Five conferences, such projects are deemed imperative" for the school. Bowen: "As we continue to stay in lock-step with all the changes in Division 1, these facilities are absolutely necessary" (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 8/20). Memphis President David Rudd said of the two practice facilities, "They keep us competitive with anyone in the country, and that includes Power 5 schools. We've got to recruit and compete against that cluster and we've got to be competitive and we're going to remain competitive." In Memphis, Geoff Calkins noted Rudd "believes in the power of sports to lift the entire university, to shape and elevate the national reputation of a place" (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 8/20).
