Duke's New Basketball Practice Facility

WRALSportsFan

Duke's New Basketball Practice Facility

By Jake Lloyd

Feb 7, 2008

comments

No wonder Duke is 20-1 and ranked No. 2 in the country. The Blue Devils now have the ultimate practice facility.

The Michael W. Krzyzewski Center will be dedicated in a ceremony Friday night that is expected to be attended by Duke president Richard Brodhead, athletic director Joe Alleva and about 350 other people, including members of Krzyzewski's family flying in from Chicago.

Yes, it's that big of a deal. A project that was thought of four and a half years ago, according to Mike Cragg, the associate director of athletics and director of the legacy fund, and took just 18 months to construct.

The 56,000 square foot building, which features two floors above ground level and has an underground tunnel to Cameron Indoor Stadium, cost $15.2 million.

It features two full-length practice courts, a weight room, and a banquet room for men's and women's basketball players, and an academic support center for all of Duke's approximate 600 student athletes.

The perimeter of the facility resembles a museum, with glass cases, plaques and posters commemorating the accomplishments of past Duke teams and players.

Throughout the construction process, players were kept in the dark about what exactly was being built. Obviously, they could see that something was happening, and there's a page in the media guide dedicated to the new building, but when the men's team was taken to the facility the afternoon after the Florida State game Jan. 16, the Devils gawked in awe at their new play place.

"We walked them up through the tunnel, came up through here, and to watch their reaction walking in here (to the courts) like wide-eyed," Cragg said, "and, 'Oh, my God,' that made it all worthwhile, and it was fantastic."

The facility will be accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week to Duke athletes. The Devils have already put the weight room to use and practiced a couple times on the new courts. The academic center is set to open Feb. 15.

Cragg said that the planners of the facility visited 27 other campuses to get an idea of what they wanted. Unlike some of the dimly lit facilities they checked out, both of the practice courts are well lit and are adjacent to the weight room, which has a glass perimeter. If privacy is needed, a curtain can be pulled down between the courts and the weight room or between the two courts.

"Of the places we've been, I'd say this weight room in particular is the best we've ever seen," Cragg said. "This turned out great."

A Duke basketball logo is emblazoned on every single weight in the large room.

If you go out the back of the room, down a hallway and up five stairs, you find yourself in the theater, which is made of up 25 cushy chairs facing a large projection screen and plenty of multimedia equipment. Both basketball teams have used the room for a week and a half now, and it — like the rest of the amenities — makes scheduling easier.

"Again, it gives us ultimate flexibility," Cragg said. "So, really, we've got one team using Cameron, one team here. One team working weights — whatever we need to do. So for us, that's a huge change."

Cragg said that in the past the teams — especially the women — have occasionally had to practice at Card Gym, the regular recreational facility for Duke students. Not only has that been a hassle, but the gym doesn't have air-conditioning. It's safe to say, that's no longer a problem.

As lavish as the basketball facilities are — the two courts not only feature 12 rims, but video cameras positioned on the walls as well — the Michael W. Krzyzewski Center is about much more than basketball.

When you enter the main entrance, which looks out at Wallace Wade Stadium at around 11 o'clock and the soccer and lacrosse fields at about 2 o'clock, you are greeted by the following words on a wall directly above three pictures of Coach K: "Dedicated to Academic and Athletic Excellence."

"So obviously we want them thinking about excellence," Cragg said.

If you go up two flights of stairs from the entrance, you enter the "Johnson/Campbell Academic Support Center." On both sides of a hallway are rooms — each containing a table, chairs and a computer — for tutoring and other private academic use.

And at the end of the hallway is a large study area. The room isn't complete, but when it opens, it will contain 12 computers in addition to the several tables for athletes to use at any time of the day or night.

Additionally, a 30-person classroom will be put to use beginning in the summer by the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy.

Perhaps the building's only structural weakness is that you can't get from the academic partition to the banquet room on the opposite side of the courts without going down then back up. Schart Hall, which Cragg said can hold about 240 seated people, will be the primary dining facility for basketball players and will also host several banquets.

The room features two windows that look out over the courts and adorned on the wall are posters celebrating each of Duke's athletic programs. Grant Hill's picture is featured on the men's basketball version.

Krzyzewksi is very pleased about the development of the academic support wing of the building, which will allow for the third floor of the Schwartz/Butters Athletic Center — the current place for athletes to go to study — to be used for office space.

"We were pushing not just a practice facility, we were pushing a concept of helping our athletic program," Krzyzewski said. "And one of the main components that we pushed was the new academic support element of that, where the students have a separate entrance, easily accessible, and it's really I don't know how many times bigger than what we have right now."

But the new facility wasn't just designed for current Blue Devils. The basketball courts and weight room were specifically constructed in the middle of the building — away from all the commemorative displays — so that if former players want to come back and play or work out, they can do so in peace without being dogged by autograph seekers, which can be the case when they return to Cameron.

Another reason for past Devils to return is the "Legacy Locker Room," which contains 23 wooden lockers with silver, shiny knobs for former Duke greats to use.

Duke senior DeMarcus Nelson is utilizing the facility now during his final days as a Blue Devils, but the allure is also there for him to return in the years to come.

"It's awesome," Nelson said. "The practice facility is amazing. I think it's a great addition to our program.

"It's going to be great for us — for the players here now and the ones that will be here in the future. It's another resource to get better."

The center also boasts of Duke's past accomplishments. When you enter it from the Schwartz/Butters building, there are glass cases celebrating Duke's national titles as well as five cases containing in honor of five men's basketball players who have won national player of the year honors — Art Heyman, Dick Groat, Christian Laettner, Danny Ferry and Johnny Dawkins.

Banners celebrating Duke's Final Fours and national championships adorn the walls above the practice courts, and when you enter the courts from the banquet room side, the left wall is covered by framed pictures of Devils now in the NBA.

Finally, the building converges with Cameron's upper concourse and Schwartz/Butters at the Hall of Honor — Duke's athletic hall of fame. So, yes, the actual basketball arena, the practice facility and the six-story building that contains all the coaches' offices are connected — in case it ever gets really cold in Durham.

Krzyzewski learned through the researching and constructing time that getting something built is never as easy as it might seem.

"You know what I found out in the process?" he said. "Whenever you put up a building anywhere on campus, it's always hard. It's always hard. There's something — an initial resistance to put up something new in any element, and I learned that through this process.

"There's resistance, and you have to fight through resistance to get it done."

Most Recent Comments

"Yeah I can't stand Duke but there really isn't a reason to be negative about a practice facility!"

Yea there is, if you are a DEF like me.

Good luck comparing Cameron to Lambeau and Wrigley. I guess I must have imagined the fact that they completely refurbished each and added amenities/seats to they could boost revenue. I guess when your tuition is $30K then you don't need to expand. Congrats...elitism wins again.

By the way...Cameron, Carmichael, and Reynolds are virtual replicas of one another. My original question stands: why won't Dook take the step that NCSU and UNC took years, maybe even decades ago?

Oh that's right...you can't fill Cameron...much less an updated arena. I'm sure you could if you built it in Jersey...how about moving??

See you March 8th.

Yeah I can't stand Duke but there really isn't a reason to be negative about a practice facility!

At what point will Duke invest and take ownership of its football program? No wonder football coaches come and go....Coach K gets what he wants without question while the Duke 'High School' football team struggles year after year. Go figure!!

Are all the negative comments really necessary? The new facility looks fantastic. I'm happy for Coach K (what a great legacy) and all the Duke athletes.

WRAL Sports Fan

WRALSportsFan