Oct. 29, 2008
Q & A with Kevin Hurley, Texas A&M Associate Athletic Director for Facilities and Construction:
"The teams have already moved into the locker rooms and the training room on the first floor. We plan to have them using the new practice gyms by this Saturday. The coaches' offices and weight room will be completed by January."
How much input did the basketball coaches have in the design of the facility?
"Our facility was designed by our coaches. We took exactly what the coaches wanted and had VLK Architects put it into plan form."
What are all the amenities that will be included when the facility is completed?
"We will have around 60 television screens in the facility. Each locker will have a computer and video screen that can be accessed to review game and practice tapes and do academic work or research. We have a weight room, locker rooms and practice gyms that can be accessed by keyless entry 24 hours a day every day of the year. We also have the ability for a player's MP3 player to be plugged directly into the sound system in the practice gyms. Each basketball team will have access to two channels on any television in the facility to program their own content, including game tapes or messages for individual players."
Go through the process of how the idea of a simple renovation of existing facilities at Reed Arena morphed into a $22 million, 68,000-square foot show place?
"We orginally talked about just added a smaller expansion on one level, but we realized that did not even get us to the bottom tier of the Big 12 in terms of basketball facilites. After extensive research and site visits, we decided to build the best one-stop shopping facility for basketball in the country and that's what we did."
You were the Director of Basketball Operations here for many years dating back to the days at G. Rollie White Coliseum. How much have things changed at Texas A&M regarding both basketball programs?
"The basketball programs have finally come into the 21st century. With this facility, we went from the bottom of the conference when we started to first in today's Big 12. This facility is the best basketball facility in the entire country and may be the nicest facility on campus. This project underscores the commitment of our administration and the university to having great basketball programs at Texas A&M."
How many other facilities across the nation were looked at for ideas during the design process?
"We looked at all the Big 12 schools and took trips to another four or five premier basketball schools. All of our basketball coaches have been exposed to a vast number of basketball facilities in their careers and we used that experience in developing this facility."
What was seen as the most important aspect of the facility?
"Recruiting. Every part of the facility had to have a wow factor and it definitely does. Besides recruiting, our student-athletes are better able to maximize their time to be the best basketball players they can possibly be."
What comments have you heard from people outside the program who have toured the facility?
"In the athletic world, the best testament is successful recruiting visits. A bunch have kids have toured the facility on recruiting visits and were visibly impressed. We have many early commitments, with more than 90 percent of the kids who have visited pledging to sign with Texas A&M."