In Lubbock, Carlos Silva Jr. reported Texas Tech has received a $10M "lead gift from the Dusty and Leisha Womble family ... that will go toward" a $23M standalone basketball practice facility. The building is "expected to house" both the men’s and women’s teams and will be "called the Dustin R. Womble Basketball Practice Facility." The project is part of Texas Tech’s fundraising campaign "launched three years ago with the goal" of raising $185M. Texas Tech AD Kirby Hocutt said that $12M of the total $23M have been "raised so far." The facility is "scheduled to comprise two practice courts, a strength and conditioning weight room, men’s and women’s basketball coaches’ offices as well as sports medicine and nutrition areas" (LUBBOCK AVALANCHE-JOURNAL, 11/9).
FEELING CAVALIER: In Winston-Salem, Conor O'Neill noted Wake Forest "revamped its video display screens" throughout Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, putting in a "new video board over the court with four displays, four corner boards for statistics, a ribbon board along the facing of the second level and five new scorer’s tables." Wake Forest Associate AD/Internal Operations Steven Adams, who oversaw the project, said that the "main board closely resembles the one" in Quicken Loans Arena (WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL, 11/8).
THE CEILING IS THE ROOF: Tonight's Colgate-UConn men's basketball game at Gampel Pavilion will be played with a new roof on the building. The process of repairing the roof "began with a $10 million budget," with crew members "lowering each individual tile from the roof to the Gampel floor, rewrapping it and raising it back for re-installation." The hope is "getting another 15-20 years of life out of the roof" (HARTFORD COURANT, 11/10).
LINING THE SKY: UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center will feature a new court this season for the "first time in almost 20 years. The court "features the outline of the Strip’s skyline in a gray stain, along with the classic UNLV arch logo at center court." The gray stain is also "included in the keys on both ends of the floor, while the sidelines and baselines are painted a classic red" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 11/8).
