There was a lot of talk about how Pitt was lagging. Could be wrong but I think some here seemed skeptical. But appears there’s something to it.
The Pete/facilities
- Thread starter King Of All Message Boards
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The Pete is 20 years old and it’s already had two or 3 renovations and still needs more? Wasn’t it over budget too, by a lot?
At some point you have to wonder if the original plans of the Pete weren’t a big time disaster.
At some point you have to wonder if the original plans of the Pete weren’t a big time disaster.
I don’t know the answers but I believe the arms race line explains it. Even if something is built today and it’s state of the art other teams that have the means will try to outdo or one up that new one. And it just goes on and on.
Does anyone know where we can find pictures of the Pete’s renovations? All I’ve been able to find are the new practice court graphics posted by Coach Capel, but I haven’t found anything for the rest.
Yes, everyone told me I was wrong. I was not. Surprising, I know.
Good for Coach bringing Pitt into the 2020’s.
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Despite a lot of complaints at the time, Pittsburgh is relatively lucky we built the stadiums here in the early 2000s. Construction costs really escalated in the years after.
PNC Park was built for $216M (=$316M today) and the new stadium opened in Atlanta in 2017 was $622M. The Pete was built for just $119M. I'm not sure if that cost includes demolition of Pitt Stadium, but RMU just built a much, much smaller arena for $50M. The Yum Center in Louisville opened in 2010 and cost $238M, although it is significantly larger than the Pete.
I'm sure Pitt would love to redo some of the aesthetic decisions made when they built the Pete, but I think they're doing a pretty reasonable job of trying to slowly modernize as much as possible.
It's kind of a goofy loophole. The schools can't pay the kids to come or hand them gifts, but they can dump as much money into the "facilities" as possible. Install a bunch of flatscreens and PS5s and call it a "relaxation area."
This has to be frustrating as hell for coaches and athletic directors. You dump a bunch of money into facility upgrades only to see them outdated in a year or two by one of your competing schools and then you’re back to the drawing board.
I don't know, I think our facilities are still pretty nice. I look at FSU who, while they've spent $10 million plus in upgrades (replacing seats, etc...), still play in a 70s era civic center that resembles a larger version of one of those salt storage sheds. And they seem to be doing OK.
Look up what Providence recently did with their practice facility and you’ll get an idea of where we need to get to. Just like with football, you better have a flashy practice facility today because that’s where these guys are going to spend the bulk of their time.
couldnt have been more than a year or two that they unveiled a basketball player only facility with break room, little kitchen area, the obligatory large screen with couches, little juice bar, and meeting rooms. we've seen the practice gym cosmetic changes.
what other bells and whistles are needed.
what other bells and whistles are needed.
There are dozens of examples of what makes schools unique in the facilities arms race. UVA has fully enclosed nap pods with Bluetooth speakers for example. The point is to try and give these guys every reason to stay in the facility as much as possible where they can get better at hoops and have all of their academic support.
Gone are the days of the hard working prospects liking the utilitarian nature of the Petersen Events Center and future NBA guys setting up air mattresses in the locker room. Bells and whistles need to be constantly updated.
i said this when clemson came out with their football player facility that had slides, mini golf, hoops courts, barber, etc. it was like a dream come true for 9 year old kids but regardless, a great investment to keep their players on a campus facility bowling or playing putt putt golf and not out with normal college kids at bars or frat parties..
kinda demeaning in a way to be honest. with that said, it'd be cool as heck to have a lounge area with a juice bar and access to a cafe for you and a handful of hoops players to just chill at, free of charge.. i think that has to be the biggest perk, football or hoops players basically have an open kitchen 24/7 at their disposal.
It's baked into that tweet.
a lot of hoops recruits talking about Jeff Capel leading the charge on renovations at the Petersen Events Center
The buried lead is that Capel is saying directly to recruits that the facilities were not/are not good enough for the players.. Can't and couldn't sell it as is.
Ridiculous. The facility situation was not good enough when he arrived. Every coach, at every school, is pushing their AD’s to improve their facilities, and when the AD’s agree to make those improvements, that’s going to be a selling point for any and every coach to recruits.
When Narduzzi got commitments to improve the football facility on the south side and he sold those upcoming improvements to prospects, was he making an excuse? That’s ridiculous.
Are we talking about upcoming improvements that the AD has agreed upon or are we talking about Capel talking to recruits about lobbying and trying to get improvements?
I think it’s more that there has been a lot done over the past three years, and they’re definitely selling the improvements that have already been made. I think that’s most of the feedback that they’ve been getting from kids - remember that most of them haven’t been on Pitt’s campus since at least March 2020. It’s an easy pitch for the coaches to say to kids, “here’s pictures of how it looked when we got here, and here’s how it looks now.”
I think if Capel had his choice, he’d love to have some additional things that we don’t currently have - specifically, a dedicated practice court that he doesn’t have to share with the women’s team like he had at Duke, and like a number of ACC schools have. It doesn’t seem like those commitments have been made, but I think it’s possible that Capel is telling kids that an expanded practice facility is something they’re trying to do.
A lot of recruits visit and complain that they share a practice court with the womens team / that they don't have nap pods, a coffee bar, nap pods, etc..? I'm not a premium member so I'm not privy to this information..it just seems over the top to me. A lot of recruits showing up and complaining about things Pitt doesn't have.. Just pull their offers and send them packing. Ridiculous.
Welcome to the real world of competition. This is how it works.
It does seem ridiculous that they have to cater and kiss the asses of teenagers but they do. And if what you have to offer in terms of these types of amenities it matters. And I’m certain some of these kids come from little to nothing so I can imagine their eyes lighting up when they see great facilities. Pitt will never be able to keep up with a lot of schools. But if it comes down to sending them packing if they don’t like what they see, the programs are doomed.
You obviously take the feedback, but you can recruit humble kids who don't show up and complain about sharing a practice court..because as you stated Pitt will never be able to keep up with a lot of schools.
Yes you can recruit these types of kids. Then lose to the kids everyone else catered to by 80.
These kids are courted by everyone from the time they’re 14 and you think we’re gonna find humble, talented kids? They barely exist anymore, unfortunately. The culture in grassroots is broken irreparably.
Maybe I'm crazy but I think you can put a team together of top 150-300 kids, develop them, and be competitive with a team of upperclassmen. Top half of the ACC and make occasional runs in the NCAAT.
You can, but you’ll mostly be a bottom feeder. I’m with you theoretically and wish these crazy amounts of money wouldn’t need to be spent. But reality is that they need to periodically upgrade. I wish it didn’t to the extent that it does but It matters.
I'm not arguing against periodic upgrading.. no problem with adding some nap pods or whatever.
The tweet says It's interesting to hear a lot of hoops recruits talking about Jeff Capel leading the charge on renovations at the Petersen Events Center.
Coach is trying really hard to get the nap pods but big mean Heather won't allow the nap pods?
Nobody’s saying that recruits are complaining about it. But if a kid goes to Wake Forest or Syracuse or NC State or Miami and they have nicer facilities than Pitt, it leaves an impression. No different than if you have a job interview at two different companies, and one has a very nice, updated office space, and the other one looks like it’s barely been touched for 20 years. It might not be determinative to your decision of which offer to accept, but it’s not complaining to say that the nicer one leaves a better impression.
Pitt’s been trying for a few years now to close that gap, and they’ve gotten most of the way there. Fully closing it is the most expensive part, but I think the feedback they’ve gotten this month so far indicates that their work to close the gap has been successful.
Yo. There's plenty to criticize Capel about without having to contort oneself into a pretzel by trying to infer things from a tweet.
Pitt needs better facilities. Any coach at Pitt should be pushing for that.
Pitt needs better facilities. Any coach at Pitt should be pushing for that.
nap pods? lol, i still cant get over that this actually exists. it reminds me of the thing they put Spock in and shot him into outer space when he died at the end of star trek 2..
I can’t get over that there are sunglasses that exist that “help you find” golf balls and that people actually buy them 😂😂
dude, i bought a pair last fall. i kid you not. they are like really dark blue. and yes, they dont work. not only do they not work but you look like a clown wearing them too..
I know you did - was busting your balls. No bigger suckers for gimmicks than us golfers. I’ve been guilty of a silly purchase or 2.
It needs work on the outside too. Especially the upper entrance area. Areas are falling into disrepair.
