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Missouri announces plans to renovate Mizzou Arena

Kim Anderson, Mike Alden

Kim Anderson, Mike Alden

AP

Facilities have been of high importance for college programs for quite some time now, with the need for quality arenas and practice gyms impacting a number of areas including attendance/fan involvement, donations from alums, recruiting and even scheduling. Having quality buildings to call home is a must for any program, especially those in larger conferences where the facilities “arms race” can have an even greater impact on winning games.

Thursday afternoon Missouri announced that it will begin a project meant to spruce up Mizzou Arena, the building the school’s men’s and women’s basketball programs call home. Despite the fact that Mizzou Arena is just ten years old, the powers that be at Missouri have identified areas in which the building is lacking and they’d like to change that.

“Mizzou Arena is entering its 10th season and is tremendous facility for our basketball programs, but we need to enhance the areas that impact the fan experience, student athlete well-being and assist in the recruitment of prospective student-athletes,” Missouri athletic director Mike Alden said in the release.

“In-game production and presentation is a significant factor in the game day experience for our fans and a new video board and sound system inside the Arena is a significant focus of this project. We also want to modernize our locker room and player lounge. We are proud to announce the first phase of that renovation (the player lounge) will begin immediately.”

In addition to the player lounge, among the areas the school will look to renovate are the locker rooms, coaches offices and weight room. With a new head coach in Kim Anderson (who’s a Missouri alum), such changes can certainly provide the new staff with some added momentum on the recruiting trail. Team success will also impact those efforts, with wins leading to more fan interest (and with regards to this project, more donations) and an easier time of getting in the door with some of the nation’s best recruits (having Tim Fuller and Rob Fulford on staff will help recruiting-wise, as well).

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