This entire page 3 spread in today’s Enterprise is a testament of what someone like Nido Qubein can do in fundraising. Remember the name Ryan Tressel, Assistant Director of Athletics for Facilities and Operations. He is Ohio State coach Jim Tressel’s nephew.
[QUOTE]
[COLOR=Purple][B]High Point University fans hope the Panthers’ new athletic facilities are worth their weight in gold – and success.[/B][/COLOR]
[B]HPU soars with top-flight facilities
[I]By Tom Berry, The High Point Enterprise
August 12, 2007[/I][/B]
Eight years have passed since High Point University became an NCAA Division I athletic program.
The Panthers’ Division I facilities just arrived.
Starting with the dedication of Coy O. Williard Baseball Stadium in the spring, HPU has been on a run of new athletic buildings, fields and stadiums. The crown jewel will officially be added on Monday evening with the dedication of the Jerry and Kitty Steele Sports Center, a $4.25 million facility with 27,301 square feet of athletic administrative offices, coaches offices, locker rooms, weight training areas, a study hall and more.
“We’re now in keeping with Division I school standards,” said university president Nido Qubein.
And more.
On Aug. 31, the Dick and Peg Vert Track and Soccer Stadium will be dedicated.
It’s a $1.5 million, 1,100-seat facility with a $1 million eight-lane track right next to the Steele Center.
Williard Stadium, with a state-of-the-art lighting system, a $30,000 scoreboard and 550 permanent seats, is on the other side of the Steele Center. An intramural field and mult-*purpose field are being built next to the track and soccer stadium.
On the hill across from the baseball field is the Millis Center, where the men’s and women’s basketball teams and volleyball team plays their games and still have their coaches offices, as do the tennis teams. The Millis Center isn’t new, but plenty of internal renovations are going on.
All this athletic building has been done within the last two years. It’s enough to make Woody Gibson, High Point’s director of athletics since 1998 and an athletic department employee since 1974, pause in amazement.
“It’s a dream come true,” he said. “It’s a dream come true to see all the facility improvements in athletics and certainly the whole campus. The whole campus has changed and it’s an incredible change for High Point University. It’s incredible what’s been done here.
“Dr. Qubein gets all the credit. He’s the driving force behind all of this and all of the money that has been raised.”
Counting Williard Stadium, which was built and donated by Coy Williard Jr. of Williard- Stewart, the total cost of the athletic construction is less than $10 million. That’s a small percentage of the overall campus construction of $110 million estimated by Don Scarborough, who oversaw the work as vice president of administration until becoming vice president of institutional advancement in June.
“We’re thrilled to death,” said Scarborough. “All this gives me a sense of pride. I’ll be able to take my kids and grandkids and maybe even great-grandkids around campus and show them something I had a part in. … It’s the professional thrill of my life so far.” Qubein goes even farther, estimating that $200 million worth of “construction of transformation” has been done or will be completed on HPU’s campus within the next five years.
“America is discovering High Point University – and raving about it,” Qubein said. The new athletic facilities and fields are a big part of that discovery. The Steele Center even has an indoor practice and swing area for the golf teams, but Gibson is especially proud of the expansive weight training room and the learning assistance center for student-athletes.
“Those two are pretty special,” he said. “While everything we’ve done is fantastic and really enhances the athletic program, those two are very nice additions for us.”
Ryan Tressel, HPU’s assistant director of athletics for facilities and operations, arrived in town just before the athletic building boom.
He has helped plug in gaps along the way.
“For a non-football school, these facilities are pretty amazing,” Tressel said. “Now that they’ve been built, we’re excited about being able to deck them out the way they should be. We will enhance the visit for teams coming in and spectators.”
Gibson remembers when study hall for student-athletes moved from building to building on campus. He remembers when many teams did not have a locker room, when officials changed in their cars, when the aging fieldhouse stuck out like a sore thumb until being torn down a couple of years ago.
The fieldhouse was built in 1947 where the Steele Center now stands. It outlived its usefulness decades ago.
“We intentionally didn’t show recruits that facility,” Gibson recalled. “It was a fire hazard.”
Now, HPU athletic facilities are on fire with positive comments and thrilled recruits.
Dustin Fonder, High Point’s new men’s soccer coach, already has two verbal commitments from talented players in the high school class of 2008. Women’s soccer coach Michelle Rayner has three such commitments.
Both credit the new and improved facilities as a big reason for the surge in interest.
“It’s unbelievable,” Fonder said. “We’re already a year ahead for our recruiting, and that is the lifeblood for any program.”
“It’s very, very rare,” Rayner said about the commitments. “If we can get recruits on campus, I think it’s pretty much a 95 percent shot that we’ll be able to get them. We’re getting a lot more talented players now, which is huge.”
Once athletes come to school, they will find locker rooms with personal touches.
The women’s soccer team will get the first glimpse of their new locker room at the Steele Center on Monday, and Rayner doesn’t want to reveal too many details.
“Let’s just say that it’s amazing, and it’s huge,” he said. “Our new locker room is at least twice the size as the old one. It will hold 30 players absolutely comfortably with a lot of room.”
Finally, after almost a decade of competing as an NCAA Division I school, High Point has Division I facilities. The Panthers’ 14 varsity sports teams have plenty of room, and plenty of room to grow.[/QUOTE]
[B][I]Photos by Sonny Hedgecock, The High Point Enterprise[/I][/B]
The Jerry and Kitty Steele Sports Center offers 27,301 square feet of state-of-the-art athletic space for High Point University.
This photo shows the Dick and Peg Vert Track and Soccer Stadium, which will be officially dedicated on Aug. 31.
HPU officials from left: Ryan Tressel, Assistant Director of Athletics for Facilities and Operations; Woody Gibson, Director of Athletics; and Brian Morgan, Associate Director of Athletics for Sports Information.
Panthers’ assistant track coach Julie Cox enjoys one of the new locker rooms in the Steele Center.
Matt Jennings, HPU strength and conditioning coach, shows off the new weight training area in the Steele Center.
This press-box view shows the Steele Center in background.