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Gophers New Athletes Village a Game Changer for Football and Basketball?

Franisdaman

HR King
Nov 3, 2012
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Heaven, Iowa
The U of Minnesota Athletes Village is half completed. It consists of 336,000 square feet of locker rooms, weight rooms, indoor football fields, basketball courts, skyways, hot tubs, cold tubs, kitchens, kitchenettes, tutoring rooms and players lounges.

Its interesting that the new UM football coach and the UM basketball coach will benefit from what Jerry Kill and Tubby Smith lobbied for.

Jerry Kill fielded teams in TCF Bank Stadium but became immediately disgusted by the football training facilities, once complaining that his players had to “eat in the hallway.” Kill lobbied hard for facilities for his program and was a key fundraiser for the U’s new sports campus before retiring for health reasons.

The Gophers’ $166 million recruiting battle station won’t become fully operational until January, but a walk through the metal framing and dry wall should be enough to sell a student-athlete on the fact that Minnesota is committed to winning contests of sport.

The full story: http://www.twincities.com/2017/07/2...th-athletes-village-has-no-space-for-excuses/
 
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The U of Minnesota Athletes Village is half completed. It consists of 336,000 square feet of locker rooms, weight rooms, indoor football fields, basketball courts, skyways, hot tubs, cold tubs, kitchens, kitchenettes, tutoring rooms and players lounges.

Its interesting that the new UM football coach and the UM basketball coach will benefit from what Jerry Kill and Tubby Smith lobbied for.

Jerry Kill fielded teams in TCF Bank Stadium but became immediately disgusted by the football training facilities, once complaining that his players had to “eat in the hallway.” Kill lobbied hard for facilities for his program and was a key fundraiser for the U’s new sports campus before retiring for health reasons.

The Gophers’ $166 million recruiting battle station won’t become fully operational until January, but a walk through the metal framing and dry wall should be enough to sell a student-athlete on the fact that Minnesota is committed to winning contests of sport.

The full story: http://www.twincities.com/2017/07/2...th-athletes-village-has-no-space-for-excuses/
How are they committed when they play basketball and wrestling in that old barn?
 
How are they committed when they play basketball and wrestling in that old barn?

Well, they wanted a separate basketball practice facility and they got it.

Here's some more info on it: http://www.nothingshortofgreatness.com/facilities.php

It does not appear the wrestlers will move into this complex to train, however, which might be a big mistake.

From the U of M:

The most important of (the buildings) to Gopher Wrestling is the new Land O'Lakes Center for Excellence, which will offer current and future Gopher wrestlers (and all Gopher student-athletes) access to more personal development resources than ever before in a facility that will be among the best in the country.

The Land O'Lakes Center for Excellence will house three critical support areas for Gopher student-athletes: a dramatically expanded and modernized academic center, the department's first central training table and nutrition education center, and an innovative leadership center that will help student-athletes develop the skills they will need to succeed in life after sport.

Source: http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-wrestl/spec-rel/062817aaa.html
 
New facilities will no doubt help the Gophers in recruiting. However, they will still be viewed as the fourth of fifth best team in the BIG west.My guess is that when in recruiting battles with Iowa, WIsconsin and Nebraska, the Gophers will lose out the majority of the time. No doubt Gopher fans will cite there gloried past, but seeing that you have to go back to the Leather helmet days, it don't mean a hill of beans to a high school recruit now days.
 
The concrete seating in your football stadium is the stuff of legends.

Get back to us when you can actually fill up your 50K stadium. Brand new sells beer and only time you can come close to a sell out last season is when all the Iowa fans attended.
 
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Well, they wanted a separate basketball practice facility and they got it.

Here's some more info on it: http://www.nothingshortofgreatness.com/facilities.php

It does not appear the wrestlers will move into this complex to train, however, which might be a big mistake.

From the U of M:

The most important of (the buildings) to Gopher Wrestling is the new Land O'Lakes Center for Excellence, which will offer current and future Gopher wrestlers (and all Gopher student-athletes) access to more personal development resources than ever before in a facility that will be among the best in the country.

The Land O'Lakes Center for Excellence will house three critical support areas for Gopher student-athletes: a dramatically expanded and modernized academic center, the department's first central training table and nutrition education center, and an innovative leadership center that will help student-athletes develop the skills they will need to succeed in life after sport.

Source: http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-wrestl/spec-rel/062817aaa.html
So what you are saying is the the training facilities will be better than the the facility they will perform at. I am sure this is what most people will be looking at.
 
And who said these "student"-athletes need to be paid? Anywhere from 40-100k for scholarship, the facilities you mention, the food, the medical, the trips, the tutors, etc.
 
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