Issue link: http://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/180321
The First Page Continued I know a simple a fact of life in intercollegiate athletics: Facilities are the difference-maker because they are difference-makers in the recruiting process and the development of student-athletes once they land on campus. Take the Iowa's men's basketball program. Fran McCaffery's third season with the Hawkeyes ended in New York City at the championship game of the NIT. The Hawkeyes will be picked to finish in the upper division of the Big Ten Conference in 2013-14 for the first time since 2003-04, and some suggest they might have what it takes to challenge for the league's regular season title. Iowa's success on the court paired with the efforts of McCaffery and his staff have put the Hawkeyes in the mix when it comes to attracting the attention of the nation's top high school talent. Ask McCaffery how he has been able to return the Hawkeyes to a position of relevance nationally and he will tell you it all begins with the facilities that are available to his staff and student-athletes: A practice facility that the Hawkeyes have access to 24-7-365, and a strength and training space that's almost as large as two full-sized basketball courts. Toss in an academic support facility that is centrally located, a gameday facility that ranks among the nation's best, and membership in a league that commands attention, and you have all the tools required for success. In no particular order, the list of facility initiatives that were part of the strategic plan for 2008-2013 starting with the two that are most important to the entire athletics department… • We renovated our outdoor practice fields used by our football team and we replaced the Bubble with a new indoor practice facility. We're just months away from opening the doors to a new multi-million dollar operations center thanks to the outstanding financial support of the project by some of our best friends… 12 • We revitalized Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The most important pieces of that multi-million dollar project were the construction of the practice gym and the expansion of the strength and conditioning areas. We also renovated team locker rooms, built new office space, and added premium seating opportunities in the bowl of the Arena. We couldn't have accomplished this without the support we received from hundreds of friends and fans… • We worked with our men's and women's golf coaches to identify their needs in the area of practice facilities during the winter months and we worked with the UI Foundation and National I-Club to identify friends of the golf program who would help us financially. The final product was the Hoak Family Golf Facility, a $2 million project that was 100 percent funded by private gifts…. • We used the same model to build the Beckwith Boathouse. That construction project was unique in that the facility was built in such a way that it would withstand the challenges created when the Iowa River jumps out of its banks. It passed that test successfully this spring… • Speaking of floods, we rebuilt the Cretzmeyer Track and the Pearl Softball Field after the flood of 2008… • We contributed $9 million to the construction of the Campus Wellness and Recreation Center, home of our swimming and diving programs. The bar is set high in the Big Ten — the UI's annual operations budget for 2012-13 ranked seventh among its 12 league peers, more than $50 million smaller than that of Ohio State and Michigan, and more than $20 million smaller that of Wisconsin and Penn State — but it's a challenge our staff embraces. Financial advantages don't guarantee wins, but they help. We compete in a league where many of our peers have greater financial resources and easier access to talented student-athletes, and that's understood. As a staff we have embraced the responsibility to be 100 percent self-supporting and the responsibility to create a plan for the future that takes into consideration our need to compete for championships and to graduate our student-athletes. We want to do both in a way that makes Iowans and our friends and fans proud. I like the fact that the pieces of the puzzle — exceptional staff, exceptional student-athletes, state-ofthe-art facilities, outstanding fan support — are coming together. Now we need to seize the opportunities, build on the momentum, and see where it takes us.