Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Basketball Programs To Receive Practice Facility As a byproduct of the $400 million stadium expansion, the men's and women's basketball programs will receive their own practice facility at the current location of Rolfs Recreation Center. While the project mostly affects academics and the football program — Rolfs will not be updated until the stadium renovations are complete and the funding will come from outside the $400 million figure — there is a much-needed and long-awaited benefit for the two basketball programs in the new practice facility. A new student recreation center will be built in one of three football stadium additions. As one of the two current on-campus recreation centers, Rolfs Recreation Center will be renovated to house both programs, including a weight room, a training center, training table accommodations and possibly relocated offices for the staffs. "We talked about it this summer and it's great to have a plan now. That's going to work out to be a heck of a spot for us," Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey said. "It's down the road a little bit, but we do have a plan for it. We have the square footage for it to be done right, and we need that. "Everybody in this league that we compete against has that ammunition. We need that ammunition now, especially as we enter the Atlantic Coast Conference. It's exciting to have a plan for that. "The Pit [the current practice court in the basement of the Joyce Center] has been great, but we've kind of outgrown the Pit a bit." During the summer, Brey visited Kentucky, Florida and Georgia to evaluate their respective practice facili- ties and to get an idea of what he wanted if one were to be constructed at Notre Dame. The men's and women's programs currently share a practice floor in the basement of the Joyce Center. Known as the Pit, its far behind the amenities offered at the country's top basketball schools. PHOTO BY ANDREW OWENS