MountainBear Any new info on this? I saw Coach Schulman joke about the arena plans during bear Backers.
Mulerider MountainBear man… I wish they would at least show some renderings even if they don’t have the money right now. I know they have images of what it could look like.
JoshUCA Mulerider I know! That’s how you get people excited and get people to donate some money. I would hope they are keeping it under wraps until they want to reveal it as part of a fundraising campaign. Who knows?!
MountainBear An update! Renderings of the new arena proposed at the Board of Trustees meeting today. Still early and will be moving into the design phase, but really exciting they’re getting ready to take this step. [ Work could start in FY27. Love how it closes in the north end zone. Article below has more. [https://uca.edu/news/uca-shares-vision-for-multipurpose-arena-at-december-board-meeting/](https://)
JoshUCA I love the design. Hate that it only has capacity for 2,650 for games and 3,000 for graduation. I understand the limited capacity, but I hope they build in potential expansions.
MountainBear JoshUCA Yeah, I saw that’s I have been seeing though that many arenas being built have focused on smaller capacities with more features. I think it’s a smart move because 90% of the time, providing a top notch venue for 2,500 is better than a more barebones venue that can seat 8,000.
JoshUCA MountainBear I agree with that, and honestly how many times in recent memory have we had more than 2,600 at a basketball game.
JoshUCA Just on a very quick search, going back to the ’17-'18 season, there have only been 10 men’s games where the attendance was over 2,000. Only 5 of those were listed as over the capacity of the proposed facility (nothing over 2,912).
Gready So I wanna make sure I understand things correctly. Will the new court still have Scottie Pippen’s signature and name sake? And by closing in the Bruce Street endzone to build it, will Bruce Street be completely blocked off to automotive traffic? I love the idea and would definitely pony up a few more dollars to ensure it all happens. But if the court would somehow lose the Scottie Pippen name as it will technically be in a new gym, I’m not a fan of that. The court name and his signature has to go along with the move for me.
MountainBear Well, per Kenpom, we have the best team we’ve had in awhile, so hopefully they can keep winning their home games.
NewBearFan From what I’ve heard a while back, yes it’ll still be Scottie pippen court. And yes the building will sit over Bruce street now and the court will be turned sideways. (Kinda going up and and down old Bruce street). There are talks about where to put tailgating and all that since it’ll change the landscape of tailgating.
MississippiBear What is the point of building a multimillion dollar facility when we don’t have enough money to keep the top players anyways. Figure out NIL first then build. Otherwise we are just polishing a turd.
Charlie76 MississippiBear I would much rather have a facility than pay a player a substantial amount of money who may or may not stay . Who may get injured and miss the entire season and then hit the portal and leave. Facilities attract players who may be on the fence. I’m sure there will be some money for players next season along with the arena.
MountainBear Charlie76 To echo this, I think below the Power 4 level, most players on teams are not on big NIL deals, and so the traditional things like program and facilities are big selling points. And like you said, a lot more a worthwhile investment over the long term.
Mulerider I just realized this after looking at the pictures again. This arena looks like we would keep the old building now and turn that into something else. It makes me think that the old arena would be turned into a practice facility.
