Construction on the new basketball practice facility and renovations to the men’s and women’s basketball locker rooms still won’t be completed for more than a year, but women’s coach Bonnie Henrickson is already keeping a daily tab on the building’s progress.

“Every couple hours I get up and walk around and see what’s going on,” Henrickson said. “You always talk about facilities and construction but everyone really gets excited when you see dirt and shovels in the ground. They are working outside my window right now, laying a pipe or something. We’re excited.”

Construction began recently on a $38 million project that will help improve the overall quality of the Athletics Department buildings. The football program completed a $31 million project this summer, which gave them a new complex and two new practice fields. Now, the focus for renovations has switched back to basketball.

The teams will each get renovated locker rooms and office space, but the crown jewel of the project is a new 11,600 square-foot basketball practice facility that will be squeezed into an open space among Wagnon Student Athlete Center, Horejsi Family Athletics Center, Anschutz Sports Pavilion and Allen Fieldhouse and will connect the four buildings as one.

“We’re just excited for our kids because these kids have been recruited with a promise of having new and upgraded facilities,” Henrickson said. “It sends a message loud and clear about the commitment that this administration has for the kids and for having first-class facilities.”

Center court from the 2008 Final Four floor in San Antonio will hang on the wall and the building will feature a court-and-a-half setup with seven basketball goals. It will have lighting and flooring similar to that of Allen Fieldhouse.

“It’s going to be a really nice looking facility that is devoted to basketball,” said Jim Marchiony, Associate Athletics Director. “More and more national programs have these types of facilities. I think our fans would agree that we have enjoyed having Kansas at the forefront of college athletics and we need to do everything possible to ensure that Kansas remains in the forefront of college basketball. This will help in that effort.”

Construction on the project is set to be completed on Oct. 15th, 2009, which coincides with the start of the next basketball season. The project will also provide other renovations to Allen Fieldhouse, new locker rooms for other smaller sports that don’t currently have their own, and a donor atrium in the area between the fieldhouse and Horejsi Family Athletics Center.

“This comes at the cornerstone of our five-year strategic plan, which we released two years ago,” Marchiony said. “It’s academic excellence and athletics excellence. Part of the athletic excellence portion of that plan is to try to give our coaches and student athletes the means by which they can achieve success on the national level. It helps the other sports because it provides more space for them — space that they really need.”

Currently, both the men’s and women’s basketball teams share practice times at Horejsi Family Athletics Center and the fieldhouse. Add in the volleyball team and their needs at Horejsi Family Athletics Center, and it causes some schedule jumbling and inconveniences for the athletes.

“Coach Self and I get along really well and our staffs do too,” Henrickson said. “We coordinate practice times and practice needs and we share conflicts so that hasn’t really been an issue. Both of us respect that when volleyball is in season, they have a priority to the practice facility.

“Sometimes it’s a burden on the kids, having to practice early in the mornings and stuff. It’s been manageable, but it will be a lot more convenient and student-athlete friendly once we get the third facility.”

Players for both the men’s and women’s teams have seen the drawings and are counting down the days until the facility opens next season.

“We’re all excited about the construction that’s going on,” said Danielle McCray, junior forward. “Our coaches showed us some pictures of what it all was going to look like and stuff. It looks pretty cool. I can’t wait for it to be done.”

— — Edited by Arthur Hur