UNTpractice facility nears completion

[MeanGreen61]

Basketball: UNT practice facility nears completion

Renovations to old Liberty Christian gym to be finished soon

10:29 PM CDT on Thursday, August 10, 2006

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

North Texas’ basketball teams will soon have a second home.

UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal said recently that he expects renovations changing a vacant gym in the Mean Green Athletic Village into a basketball practice facility to be completed in the next few months.

“It will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Villarreal said. “The fact that our basketball floor at the Super Pit is up for a third of the year with events and orientation makes it difficult for our kids.”

UNT won’t have that problem after the latest in a series of projects is completed at what used to be Liberty Christian High School.

Villarreal said UNT will have to install a new floor, repaint the gym and put up new goals. Once that work is completed, the men’s and women’s teams will share the facility.

UNT currently practices and plays at the Super Pit, which is also the site of several other university functions. The basketball court is frequently removed during the offseason, forcing UNT’s teams to hunt for other places to work out.

Both UNT men’s head coach Johnny Jones and women’s associate head coach Angela Ortega said their teams run into problems at times in the offseason.

“The problem that we have is that although we have 11 floors on campus, we don’t always have access to them because of camps or things that are going on just in the regular school day,” Jones said. “This will keep us from having to go off campus to practice.”

The even bigger advantage will be the access players will have to a court at any time to work out individually.

“I know our kids’ frustration last year came when they had a break between classes and wanted to go use the shooting gun,” Ortega said of a machine that allows a single player to stand and have a machine pass balls to them to shoot. “With a practice facility they could put up 400 shots between classes, which would be a huge advantage for our program.”

More and more colleges are building practice facilities, which have become a draw in recruiting. Baylor is building the Lt. Jack Whetsel Jr. Basketball Practice Facility at the cost of $8 million.

“Everyone is building practice facilities and promoting it from a recruiting standpoint,” Ortega said. “We are being asked all the time about practice facilities by the parents of recruits. They want to know if there is an extra site where their daughter can go and shoot 200 free throws, if they want.”

Villarreal said he can give both teams that luxury at a relatively low cost because there is already a gym available.

The basketball practice facility is just the latest project UNT has taken on at the Mean Green Athletic Village since taking over the property in 2005.

The UNT soccer team already has its new field in place and a softball field is nearing completion. Another gym on the campus has been renovated to house the women’s volleyball team.

UNT is hoping the addition of an extra gym will give both its basketball teams a lift in recruiting and on the floor. The Mean Green women are looking to build on a 19-9 campaign that included a Sun Belt Conference West Division title last season, while the men finished 14-14 for the second straight year.

[Stan R]

Good job RV - baby steps man... baby steps..

[untwillrise]

Good job RV - baby steps man... baby steps.. 

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thats not baby steps. that is big to have your own practice stadium at a 95% football school. i no expect even more threes from KD and Wats now.

[GreenBat]

i no(W) expect even more threes from KD and Wats now. 

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Maybe the team can work on it's free throw shooting now, not the three.

[untwillrise]

maybe they can work on their entire game. But the three ball last season excited the entire crowd and the team.

[e-bone ver2.awesome]

maybe they can work on their entire game. But the three ball last season excited the entire crowd and the team.

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There is a fine line between excitement and dread when it comes to UNT shooting 3s.