Watch the video to learn more about how Sac State plans to replace the most awful arena in college basketball with something worse. Be sure to check out The Touchback on YouTube for more videos.
Sacramento State basketball has not found life at the Division 1 level to be particularly welcoming. The Hornets have a 32 percent winning percentage since making the jump in 1991 and have as many winning seasons as one-win seasons–two apiece.
A big reason for their lack of success starts with the team’s home. The Hornets Nest is awful. If it’s not the worst venue in college basketball, it is undoubtedly in the conversation. After years and decades of trying to find a new place to play, Sac State is set to move. Unfortunately, they may replace the most awful in college basketball with something worse.
In November, Sac State President Luke Wood announced that all indoor athletics would be moving to a new event center in The WELL, or the school’s student wellness facility. It is a gym, some intramural facilities and various offices. It is not a place where you would envision a basketball arena.
Of course, an arena doesn’t seem to be the plan. Instead, Wood explained the school would be adding temporary bleachers around The WELL’s largest basketball court which seems rinky-dink, even by Sac State’s standards.
Those hoping for the university to under promise and overdeliver shouldn’t hold their breath. CSUS has approved US$5.2 million for the project. This means it will be as bare bones as possible. When factoring in the need for other required add-ons, this new “arena” will most likely be nothing more than bleachers surrounding an intramural basketball court.
We know US$5.2 million isn’t going to go far based on recent Big Sky projects. Portland State renovated the Stott Center, including Viking Pavilion, a few years back at a cost of US$52 million. Idaho built the new ICCU Arena for US$51 million. Both are incredibly nice projects that add a lot to their campus while replacing woefully outdated and inadequate facilities.
This is also roughly a tenth of what Sacramento State plans to spend in converting an intramural space into a DI arena. It is hard to see a scenario where this ends well. I mean it will end in The WELL so maybe that’s not a good word choice.
On one hand, I fully understand Sac State’s desire to get the hell out of The Hornets Nest and spend as little money as possible to do so. The school isn’t flush with cash and investing in a new basketball arena for a program that has been historically poor probably isn’t the best use of money. Even if it is to replace the most awful arena in college basketball.
On the other hand, this seems like a bad idea. The minute you do something cheap, you almost immediately regret it. Seriously, how many stadiums have made cheap renovations only to find out a few years down the road what they did wasn’t enough? You end up spending more money in the long run by cutting corners like this.
No one will argue that Sacramento State needs a new place for its indoor sports. There has been a need to move out of The Hornets Nest for decades now. This just doesn’t seem like the answer, though. It is replacing the most awful arena in college basketball with something even worse. At least, that is what it seems like in theory.
The school is simply slapping some bleachers, a scoreboard and a new PA system around an intramural basketball court and calling it a day. Now, we haven’t seen any renders or designs, but we do know five million bucks doesn’t get you a hell of a lot in this day and age. Maybe Sac State has an ace in the hole. But, there is a reason to believe this “new” arena will be more disappointing than The Hornets Nest.
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