Arizona State President Michael Crow said he wants a "simple" renovation of Wells Fargo Arena that in his estimation should cost less than $75M, according to Jeff Metcalfe of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. Crow said, "What I'm after something not fancy, really nice. Like Pauley Pavilion. We're not going to have any suites. We're going to have great amenities. I don't know what that costs, but it's going to be less than $75 million." He added, "I happen to like Wells Fargo. I think it's a cool basketball arena, but it needs to be modernized and brought up to better ADA standards and air handling and graphics and sound. We won't change the shape or the size, we might change the number of seats. I think it's going to be great." Meanwhile, Crow continues to be "bullish on the future of the Pac-12 Network even though per-school revenue is substantially less" than what Big Ten and SEC schools receive from their TV networks. Crow: "What I feel good about our network is that we own it, all of it" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 3/9).
A PARTICULAR METHOD: In Phoenix, Doug Haller noted Crow's vision for ASU "is simple" in that he "wants each program to be its own West Point military academy." From the way they are "structured, to the leaders they produce." Crow: "I am a huge believer in contrarian approaches. I’m not a believer in just follow the same model. If you follow the same model, you’re just going to end up in the same place." Haller noted Sun Devil Stadium is "nearing the final stages" of a $330M makeover, and ASU's football training facility "is complete." What the program "needed was the right leader." Like fans, Crow had "become frustrated with ASU's inconsistency." Crow said, "What I want is for coaches, to every extent possible, be the role model of what we’re attempting to produce. They graduated from college, they were fantastic athletes, they have the character and life story that we’re interested in portraying. When you have officers at West Point standing in front of the crew, training them, they’re wearing all this stuff that they got along the way. That's what we're after" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 3/11).
