New $20 Million USA Basketball Foundation Facility in Leetsdale

[pswagadactyl]

Basketball legends flock to Western Pa. to unveil ‘beautiful’ Rize Sports facility

When he was growing up in Moon, long before he became one of the most successful coaches in college basketball history, John Calipari used to play pickup...

www.post-gazette.com

Saw this on the news the other day. Dr. J, Coach Cal, Diana Taurasi, Russell Westbrook, TMac all in attendance.
I was wondering if anybody here had any insight on if this new facility will have any impact on Pitt Basketball or WPIAL Basketball.

h2p

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Basketball legends flock to Western Pa. to unveil ‘beautiful’ Rize Sports facility

When he was growing up in Moon, long before he became one of the most successful coaches in college basketball history, John Calipari used to play pickup...

www.post-gazette.com

Saw this on the news the other day. Dr. J, Coach Cal, Diana Taurasi, Russell Westbrook, TMac all in attendance.
I was wondering if anybody here had any insight on if this new facility will have any impact on Pitt Basketball or WPIAL Basketball.

h2p

This is one of the most random things I ever heard? Thomas Tull built a $20 million Taj Mahal youth basketball complex in Leetsdale??? And its already done? WTF

 

[Upg bobcat]

This is one of the most random things I ever heard? Thomas Tull built a $20 million Taj Mahal youth basketball complex in Leetsdale??? And its already done? WTF

Tull trying to boost the popularity of the sport with local youth so that he has a fan base in 15 years when he gets an NBA team and moves it here?

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Tull trying to boost the popularity of the sport with local youth so that he has a fan base in 15 years when he gets an NBA team and moves it here?

The SEA is doing a feasibility study on bringing an NBA or WNBA team here. The NBA would be the longest of longshots.

 

[Upg bobcat]

The SEA is doing a feasibility study on bringing an NBA or WNBA team here. The NBA would be the longest of longshots.

Are they also studying feasibility of MLS?

Honestly, football is king here and I think this region to stick to its strengths. Try to get a spring football league franchise (in that combined XFL/USFL league), or I believe the arena league is rebooting and maybe they should aim for that. Plus those are smaller leagues than NBA or MLS so you don't need quite as much support to keep those franchises alive.

Another thing that is big here is wrestling. Could they try to get like an olympic training facility or something like that to attract the best wrestlers to the area? I don't really know if that's a thing, but I feel like if it is, it could be successful here.

 

[pittchagg]

The NBA would be a dream for Pittsburgh, but I don’t think we’re a good enough market, unfortunately. We’d have to pay out the ass to bribe a franchise like Oklahoma City did.

The WNBA is interesting because there isn’t a team between Indianapolis, NYC, and DC. There’s a big hole on the map - I tend to think Philly’s a prime candidate for an expansion team there, though.

I’ve also long thought that a NWSL (pro women’s soccer) would do well here sharing Highmark Stadium with the Riverhounds. You can probably make their home base the same as the Riverhounds’ home base in Montour, too.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Are they also studying feasibility of MLS?

Honestly, football is king here and I think this region to stick to its strengths. Try to get a spring football league franchise (in that combined XFL/USFL league), or I believe the arena league is rebooting and maybe they should aim for that. Plus those are smaller leagues than NBA or MLS so you don't need quite as much support to keep those franchises alive.

Another thing that is big here is wrestling. Could they try to get like an olympic training facility or something like that to attract the best wrestlers to the area? I don't really know if that's a thing, but I feel like if it is, it could be successful here.

No and the thing is, its easy to get an MLS team. Build a stadium. That's it. If some ownership group built a nice 18K seat stadium, the MLS would come here.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

his son is in 8th grade at sewickley and he needs a place to workout. It’ll close after he graduates or be repurposed. Average lifespan of a gym is less than 2 years

 

[pittchagg]

his son is in 8th grade at sewickley and he needs a place to workout. It’ll close after he graduates or be repurposed. Average lifespan of a gym is less than 2 years

Can we preemptively offer him a walk-on spot?

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

his son is in 8th grade at sewickley and he needs a place to workout. It’ll close after he graduates or be repurposed. Average lifespan of a gym is less than 2 years

Pitt needs to give his kid a walkon spot and then get Tull to throw his $ towards our program.

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

No and the thing is, its easy to get an MLS team. Build a stadium. That's it. If some ownership group built a nice 18K seat stadium, the MLS would come here.

That’s all. I’m sure they’d forego an expansion fee. Charlotte only paid $325 mil then San Diego paid $500 mil.

But I’m sure they’d just award a franchise here as long as they built that 18k stadium. Easy.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

his son is in 8th grade at sewickley and he needs a place to workout. It’ll close after he graduates or be repurposed. Average lifespan of a gym is less than 2 years

That makes more sense because this gym sure didn't. Leetsdale? Just straight up weird. Maybe they can turn it into a soccer field when he graduates. We need more indoor soccer.

 

[pswagadactyl]

I wonder what the USA Basketball affiliation means?
It was certainly a star filled ribbon ceremony with those names in attendance.
h2p

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I wonder what the USA Basketball affiliation means?
It was certainly a star filled ribbon ceremony with those names in attendance.
h2p

Not a lot. My guess is they gave Tull $500K or $1 million to put their name on it and to be able to use it for a couple youth camps every so often. Then they can say they are doing something for the community. This whole thing is weird. I went to their website and there wasn't much there. I figured maybe there'd be some youth leagues as my kids are of the age to participate but there's nothing. I know its new but they also knew they were building it so you'd figure they would have some things lined up. My guess is its just Tull's son's gym and they'll host tournaments.

 

[FrogmoreZeke]

his son is in 8th grade at sewickley and he needs a place to workout. It’ll close after he graduates or be repurposed. Average lifespan of a gym is less than 2 years

There was a very similar situation out in Elizabeth Township where the parents built and opened a gym for their kid. Used to coach a lot of AAU games there but I don't even know if the place still exists but I can tell you the gym was packed on weekends and we had a hard time renting practice time during the week.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

There was a very similar situation out in Elizabeth Township where the parents built and opened a gym for their kid. Used to coach a lot of AAU games there but I don't even know if the place still exists but I can tell you the gym was packed on weekends and we had a hard time renting practice time during the week.

Court Time? Its still there. I coached a team in a tournament there during Covid and the place was jam packed. Who built that?

 

[cabe23]

Maybe this means we won't have to play all our youth league games at the Drive Salt barn anymore. I know some people like it but I don't. Fake floor and it's claustrophobic.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Maybe this means we won't have to play all our youth league games at the Drive Salt barn anymore. I know some people like it but I don't. Fake floor and it's claustrophobic.

I dont mind the Sport Court floor but I hate when some of these venues charge admission. Cant they just charge the teams more to cover that? I'd rather pay it up front in the cost of the team fee.

 

[cabe23]

I dont mind the Sport Court floor but I hate when some of these venues charge admission. Cant they just charge the teams more to cover that? I'd rather pay it up front in the cost of the team fee.

Yes! I get in free as a coach but they often make my wife and the other parents pay, and that seems ridiculous to me.

 

[FrogmoreZeke]

Court Time? Its still there. I coached a team in a tournament there during Covid and the place was jam packed. Who built that?

It was built by the parents of a female player from EF. I think she ended up going to a MAC school but not sure.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

Pitt needs to give his kid a walkon spot and then get Tull to throw his $ towards our program.

That would seem ideal, but the dad is very tied in with Calipari already. Not that Cal will be at UK in 5 years necessarily but I am sure they already have a spot reserved for him.

Also these aren’t the type of people, at least in my experience, who think they will be walk on players. They think they can buy training/exposure etc to being a scholarship contributor at the D1 level.

But yeah, I agree in principle. They might as well give him a scholarship, they’ll never use 13 anyways.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

That would seem ideal, but the dad is very tied in with Calipari already. Not that Cal will be at UK in 5 years necessarily but I am sure they already have a spot reserved for him.

Also these aren’t the type of people, at least in my experience, who think they will be walk on players. They think they can buy training/exposure etc to being a scholarship contributor at the D1 level.

But yeah, I agree in principle. They might as well give him a scholarship, they’ll never use 13 anyways.

I dont think any major D1 program would waste a scholarship on a billionaire's kid, even if he was lower D1 material. And I dont know the kid at all, but I highly doubt the kid is even D2. My guess is he'll be an 18 PPG guy in 2A, which means D3.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

I dont think any major D1 program would waste a scholarship on a billionaire's kid, even if he was lower D1 material. And I dont know the kid at all, but I highly doubt the kid is even D2. My guess is he'll be an 18 PPG guy in 2A, which means D3.

Ummmm, uh, ok

 

[pittjas]

I dont think any major D1 program would waste a scholarship on a billionaire's kid, even if he was lower D1 material. And I dont know the kid at all, but I highly doubt the kid is even D2. My guess is he'll be an 18 PPG guy in 2A, which means D3.

In the NIL era, if you could get access to a billionaire for NIL money, that is worth a scholarship ever single day of the week

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

In the NIL era, if you could get access to a billionaire for NIL money, that is worth a scholarship ever single day of the week

How often does a D1 basketball team play the 13th guy on the roster?

Of course it would be worth giving a kid like that a scholarship if you thought it was going to open up the father's wallet.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

How often does a D1 basketball team play the 13th guy on the roster?

Of course it would be worth giving a kid like that a scholarship if you thought it was going to open up the father's wallet.

In the history of college basketball, there has never been a major D1 program who has had a D3 player on scholarship out of HS. Can you imagine the press release Sewickley Academy senior Jimmy Tull, who was 2nd team All-WPIAL 2A and was 2nd on his team in scoring at 15PPG selects Pitt. CMU, Chicago, and Johns Hopkins were also finalists.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

In the history of college basketball, there has never been a major D1 program who has had a D3 player on scholarship out of HS. Can you imagine the press release Sewickley Academy senior Jimmy Tull, who was 2nd team All-WPIAL 2A and was 2nd on his team in scoring at 15PPG. CMU, Chicago, and Johns Hopkins were also finalists.

It's almost as if the world of recruiting is different now than it was 50 years ago.

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

I dont think any major D1 program would waste a scholarship on a billionaire's kid, even if he was lower D1 material. And I dont know the kid at all, but I highly doubt the kid is even D2. My guess is he'll be an 18 PPG guy in 2A, which means D3.

Guys like that want to win and want their kid to be on a winning team. You only need an 8 man rotation. This guy could buy a Final 4 team. Who cares if his kid is the 13th man if we are winning 25+ games?

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Guys like that want to win and want their kid to be on a winning team. You only need an 8 man rotation. This guy could buy a Final 4 team. Who cares if his kid is the 13th man if we are winning 25+ games?

Like sure, if he buys us a Final Four, I'd take Tull and heck, maybe even let him start the first 5 minutes like John DeGroat. But is he truly going to buy a team, that basically ensures his son will never play?

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

It's almost as if the world of recruiting is different now than it was 50 years ago.

I guess you have a point but the logic of this makes no sense. Tull is worth $3 billion. A scholarship is worth, let's say $250K for 4 years, or .008% of his net worth. That's the equivalent of a person with a $1 million net worth taking his family to a Pitt basketball game for $83. So why does Tull need the scholarship? Prestige? To say he's a scholarship player? If someone saves Tull $250K by putting his son on scholarship, he will turn around and pay 8 players $1 million per year? This just doesnt make sense.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I guess you have a point but the logic of this makes no sense. Tull is worth $3 billion. A scholarship is worth, let's say $250K for 4 years, or .008% of his net worth. That's the equivalent of a person with a $1 million net worth taking his family to a Pitt basketball game for $83. So why does Tull need the scholarship? Prestige? To say he's a scholarship player? If someone saves Tull $250K by putting his son on scholarship, he will turn around and pay 8 players $1 million per year? This just doesnt make sense.

What does "need" have to do with it? Will Jeffress doesn't "need" a scholarship, but he has one. Lots of other players don't "need" one, but they have one.

Maybe it works the other way around. Tull's son loves being on the Pitt team, even if he rarely plays Tull sees how much his son enjoys his time here and decides that, as you point out, to him it's just a drop in the bucket so he decides to endow a couple scholarships for the basketball team. Or pays to renovate the coaches offices. Or the locker room. Or the practice court. Or pays every player on the team $100,000 to be extras in his next movie project. Or whatever.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

What does "need" have to do with it? Will Jeffress doesn't "need" a scholarship, but he has one. Lots of other players don't "need" one, but they have one.

Maybe it works the other way around. Tull's son loves being on the Pitt team, even if he rarely plays Tull sees how much his son enjoys his time here and decides that, as you point out, to him it's just a drop in the bucket so he decides to endow a couple scholarships for the basketball team. Or pays to renovate the coaches offices. Or the locker room. Or the practice court. Or pays every player on the team $100,000 to be extras in his next movie project. Or whatever.

Renovating the locker rooms or paying players $100K isnt good enough. If a school puts a D3 player on scholarship, that better come with $500K/year salaries for the other players so you can get thr very best.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Renovating the locker rooms or paying players $100K isnt good enough. If a school puts a D3 player on scholarship, that better come with $500K/year salaries for the other players so you can get thr very best.

The only person in the whole world who would be dumb enough to turn that down would be you.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

The only person in the whole world who would be dumb enough to turn that down would be you.

What person would be dumb enough to spend $1 million or so on a basketball program so his son could get a $250K scholarship? Do you understand how illogical that is?

Assuming his son is D3 caliber, his best play would to have his son go to a school where he could maybe get playing time (say RMU), develop into a starter one day and lets say he's the starting SG his senior year, go out and pay $1 million each for a PG, SF, PF, and C and hope to make a deep tourney run with the top 4 portal players.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

What person would be dumb enough to spend $1 million or so on a basketball program so his son could get a $250K scholarship? Do you understand how illogical that is?

You understand that Pitt takes in tens of millions of dollars a year from people who don't have any offspring playing any sport at Pitt, right?

Do you not understand how illogical that is?

Or is it just that you have no idea how the college athletic model has worked for the last several decades?

Or are you just as dumb as you frequently present yourself to be?

 

[BTisinDC]

In the history of college basketball, there has never been a major D1 program who has had a D3 player on scholarship out of HS. Can you imagine the press release Sewickley Academy senior Jimmy Tull, who was 2nd team All-WPIAL 2A and was 2nd on his team in scoring at 15PPG selects Pitt. CMU, Chicago, and Johns Hopkins were also finalists.

There certainly has been. And you claim to know college basketball.........

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

You understand that Pitt takes in tens of millions of dollars a year from people who don't have any offspring playing any sport at Pitt, right?

Do you not understand how illogical that is?

Or is it just that you have no idea how the college athletic model has worked for the last several decades?

Or are you just as dumb as you frequently present yourself to be?

It’s amazing that anyone would even try and have a good faith discussion with him.

A billionaire could light a million on fire and it would be meaningless. The wealthy indulge their kids all the time. So to not even get it - I mean it’s just unbelievable how obtuse he can be.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

A billionaire could light a million on fire and it would be meaningless.

Exactly. Thank you. So why does Tull need to save the $250K (much cheaper if he goes in-state) to have his son on scholarship?

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

Exactly. Thank you. So why does Tull need to save the $250K (much cheaper if he goes in-state) to have his son on scholarship?

It’s about being able to say his son was a scholarship player, as his son could say, for the rest of their lives. In 20 years no one will remember any other way

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

It’s about being able to say his son was a scholarship player, as his son could say, for the rest of their lives. In 20 years no one will remember any other way

Exactly as I said - indulging his kid. Wonder if it will get thru.

He must need attention. Other than trolling it’s the only other explanation.

Even more amazing is that he did answer his own question a few posts ago.

So why does Tull need the scholarship? Prestige? To say he's a scholarship player?