Ryan Center Seating Capacity

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

rambone 78 wrote:But the VCU model is there for schools like URI to follow.

Like ATP just said, the Ryan needs to be packed almost every night, to show the necessary support for the program. VCU sells out their home games months in advance.

Could URI do that, if they have VCU's success? It might be a little tougher, given that the Ryan's capacity is bigger [with a possible increase in the works already], and Kingston's proximity to nowhere, but it can be at least approached.

Huh? Do explain! I think Ryan Center seating expansion should be one of the LAST investments the school makes into that facility.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 11 years ago

There's been some talk of adding to the seating capacity. Sorry if I meant expansion. The footprint of the building won't be expanded, just moving things around to add seats. They can do that without building additions.

If we start winning, and winning big, it will be needed.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

I don't want to derail this thread, but it would be cool to discuss what options they are considering to increase capacity. 7657 is already an upgrade over the original capacity of 7571.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 11 years ago

Haven't heard a thing about expanding capacity.
That's really putting the cart before the horse.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 11 years ago

We need first to fill the 7,657 seats we have.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

Right, no reason at all to worry about capacity. The "low" capacity of the Ryan Center is a contradiction in terms until we consistently challenge that limit. Also, it's GOOD to have a packed house with some real demand for paid and student seats. Look at VCU. They sold out their entire season this year... before the first game.

section(105) · Unread post by **section(105)** » 11 years ago

Until such time as we/re packing the place for about three consecutive seasons, coupled with a student demand and south county demand/support beyond supply, and the US Congressional delegation along with the Gordon Fox crew showing up........not gonna happen.....most of the last group would need a GPS to find the RC.....

Ramulous · Unread post by **Ramulous** » 11 years ago

Consistently fill Ryan....then require donation points for best seats and the ability to buy any season ticket....create demand and the donated money would make up for a few hundred more seats by far.

If you could get a ticket for just the sticker price why would people boost the program with donations ?

Ramblinrose · Unread post by **Ramblinrose** » 11 years ago

Right now they can hold a concert and a game at the same time and still have empty seats.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 11 years ago

Some of us don't have a ton of side money to donate, but manage
to scrape together enough for a season ticket.

BarlowHall05 · Unread post by **BarlowHall05** » 11 years ago

If capacity becomes a serious issue, we could improve the emergency exits so that the standing room only capacity could be restored. That's probably only a bump of 500 seats, but I don't see how else they could add seats without ditching the scoreboard.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 11 years ago

There's going to be a new overhead scoreboard in the future, so
the existing ones will be obsolete.
I think there's room behind the baskets for additional seating, like the Dunk has.
More or less flat seating. There's about 15 feet between the baseline and the current stands.
Say 55 X 15 feet worth of seats on both ends of the court.
That would kill walking around, but something has to go.
What about that wasted space oposite the benches? Could put some seats there.
Lots of space for "press row" tables.
Minimum cost, with no structures being affected.

steviep123 · Unread post by **steviep123** » 11 years ago

Agreed....let's fill the Ryan Center on a regular basis first.

Rhodymob05 · Unread post by **Rhodymob05** » 11 years ago

put it this way, 8-21 season and we've filled around 3/4ths of the capacity at times.....If we win on a yearly basis then we will deff need to expand

rhodyfan3 · Unread post by **rhodyfan3** » 11 years ago

Yeah, I would say worry about this once the team starts to win consistently. However, upgrades like the scoreboard and new floor are something that they could start working on.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

With the money the program will see from the exit fees and NCAA credits earned by others and forfeited by those teams leaving, I think some of these more visible changes should be possible earlier than originally planned. They sure don't have to wait for Dan to generate his OWN NCAA credits, which is great.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 11 years ago

One of the facility areas that URI may be falling behind on is a basketball only dedicated practice facility. UConn, UMass, and VCU are in the process of building them.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

At least we have Keaney most of the time.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 11 years ago

Nothing wrong with practicing at Keaney.

Seawrightspostgame · Unread post by **Seawrightspostgame** » 11 years ago

Yeah Keaney is great.

They also have that gym that is across from the pool and the courts all the way in the back behind the pool. There are like 20 basketball hoops throughout that whole structure.

The locker room looks great.

Bench seating ups the # of ppl that can fit in the lower bowl around the court, i.e a ton of other programs that have bench student seating around the court.

As far as squeezing in students around the court -- The court leads right out to the exit doors. It couldnt be any more fire friendly

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 11 years ago

That gym in Tootel is really crappy, though.

gorhody89 · Unread post by **gorhody89** » 11 years ago

They just redid the Gym in Tootel

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 11 years ago

Good, because it was really a dump.

Unread post by **SGreenwell** » 11 years ago

I doubt they'd use the Tootel gyms for practice, unless the renovations were REALLY substantial. The Dude and I played there a couple summers ago, and beyond the weird floors and basket configurations, the ventilation also seemed poor. I remember have trouble catching my breath there, as opposed to more of the "open" configuration of Mackal. I doubt Keaney is so heavily booked that they'd be unable to use that, if they couldn't use the Ryan Center for some reason.

The Dude · Unread post by **The Dude** » 11 years ago

It's good to hear they just renovated the Tootel gyms. Did they renovate both East and West? I'd love to check it out. Unfortunately, the last time I played I was in Tootel West and left with a severely sprained foot.

EasyEdBrown · Unread post by **EasyEdBrown** » 11 years ago

Last time I saw East, the floor was in really really rough shape.

rhodyfan3 · Unread post by **rhodyfan3** » 11 years ago

That's good to hear about the Tootel Gym. Werr there improvements on the weight rooms? I will have to go check it out. I know one place URI lacks in it's athletics department is their weight room facilities. I remember walking by them my freshman year and being surprised to see they looked almost worse than the student weigh room. If we can improve on the weight rooms it can benefit all sports in a couple of different ways.

Rhody4324 · Unread post by **Rhody4324** » 11 years ago

Tootell West was just refloored a month ago and is a great place to play. East is being converted into a new weight room for athletes.

Rhody Guy · Unread post by **Rhody Guy** » 11 years ago

Keaney is not a good practice facility. The floor is ok, but the hoops themselves are terrible. unless the replace them I would not even consider.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

How often do the Rams practice outside the Ryan Center? Seems that's their primary facility and there are rarely conflicts in floor availability.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 11 years ago

My point is not really that URI has no where to practice. My point is that these other schools have dedicated basketball only state of the art practice facilities that are being used as an incentive in the recruiting process. URI cannot offer anything similar and is not keeping up with the Jones's.

rhodyfan3 · Unread post by **rhodyfan3** » 11 years ago

Very true. Some of our facilities are out of date and subpar for a Division 1 school. Hopefully the basketball program can win, bring in more revenue, and see some improvements.

The Dude · Unread post by **The Dude** » 11 years ago

So basically we're talking about a practice facility for practice versus the actual venue for practices???
I'm not a rocket scientist, but just from a player stand point I'd like practicing in the actual venue better than a practice facility. In practice you want to get as close to simulating a game situation as you possibly can when you are preparing for another team. In my view, practicing in the actually facility would help in that area.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 11 years ago

Good grief. Keaney is fine, just fix it up a little, if they need to practice and the Ryan is unavailable.

Next thing you know, they'll want to practice on an aircraft carrier.

I know some programs are spending millions on purely practice facilities.

URI isn't going to be one of them. They're going to need their money to spend on keeping Dan around soon enough.

RIFan · Unread post by **RIFan** » 11 years ago

Wasn't there a time when we thought it was bad that we had to practice in Keaney and not the RC? Now it seems many schools are doing the same thing, with these dedicated practice facilities. I was recently at Penn State for business, and they had a brand new building that stated it was the "Basketball Practice Facility". I personally do not see what's wrong with Keaney as a "Practice Facility". But, I have not been in one of these new dedicated ones to compare.

Our "Practice Facility" is nicer and bigger than Fordham's arena.

rhodyfan3 · Unread post by **rhodyfan3** » 11 years ago

I'm not necessarily so concerned with having a dedicated practice facilities, I would just like to see URI make some improvements in all of its facilities. Whether its Keaney or something for the football team. I worked with the football team for a few weeks last year, and they have a "training" room by their practice field. It was disgusting, I mean just cleaning the place would have made it look better. If they were too make minor improvements in areas like that in each sport, it can help with recruiting and the overall quality of the Athletic facilities.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 11 years ago

All these improvements are going to happen, it's just that they can't be done all at once.

Talk to Thorr. He'll tell you that there is a priority list, but that list isn't public knowledge. Things will get done as the money comes in.

One thing's for sure, Thorr and co. know there's a lot to do.

UCH21377 · Unread post by **UCH21377** » 11 years ago

i was visiting UConn a few weeks ago with my kid and the Huskies were practicing at Gampel.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 11 years ago

UCH21377 wrote:i was visiting UConn a few weeks ago with my kid and the Huskies were practicing at Gampel.

UConn is going to build a basketball only practice facility right next to Gampel on the old football stadium land. Groundbreaking is scheduled soon.

UMass is doing the same with a facility across the street from the Mullins.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 11 years ago

UConn also has a SEVEN time NCAA championship women's team
and a three time NCAA men's championship team.
Think of the money they raked in from those teams and even the runs they
made that didn't result in championships.
UMass? They're bleeding money with their football program, so I don't get
where their funding is coming from.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 11 years ago

Rod, I'm not sure, but I think the state is helping them out some.

Unlike RI. URI can't count on a nickel from those bozos in Prov. anymore.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 11 years ago

rambone 78 wrote:Rod, I'm not sure, but I think the state is helping them out some.

Unlike RI. URI can't count on a nickel from those bozos in Prov. anymore.

UMass is getting an 11 million dollar gift from anonymous alumnus.

UMass Hoops and Dreams
http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5fe ... fe78ae8/51

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 11 years ago

UConn's 35 million dollar basketball practice facility set to open in the Fall of 2014.

http://courantblogs.com/uconn-men/work- ... -facility/

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 11 years ago

New VCU Basketball Practice Facility

http://www.pinecourtapartments.com/blog ... ut-players

MeadWestvaco donates $3 million to VCU for basketball center

http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/lates ... f6878.html

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 11 years ago

St. John's Taffner Fieldhouse Basketball Practice Facility
http://www.redstormsports.com/facilitie ... house.html

Ramblinrose · Unread post by **Ramblinrose** » 11 years ago

We don't live in these neighborhoods.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 11 years ago

Ramblinrose wrote:We don't live in these neighborhoods.

I beg to differ. VCU and UMass are league partners. If we intend to compete with them for players, wins, and conference titles, we need to be a part of that neighborhood.

This is the new trend across the college basketball landscape. A nice venue for playing games is not enough. You now need a nice dedicated practice facility as well. These things do not necessarily portend or guarantee success. They are however part of the overall package and teams with these will most likley do better than those without.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

Also, however, it's important to understand why schools are going this way. In VCU's case, their master plan included the levelling of the existing old gym shared by men's and women's hoop for practices. I don't know what UMass's immediate issue was, but if they got a $11M donation, you build the damn facility or lose the $$.

I'm sure this is on "the list", but given we have on-campus Ryan Center AND Keaney, I can't imagine it's a high priority compared to some of the other enhancements we've heard are on the table.

Essam · Unread post by **Essam** » 11 years ago

If you want to keep a coach you better move into that neighborhood.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 11 years ago

My guess is that it is probably not in the near term plans at URI. If the SADC took 10+ years, i don't see where a practice facility is coming soon. My point is mainly to make Ram fans aware that other schools are going full force with these types of facilities and URI will be at a disadvantage. Its biggest effect is likely to be in recruiting. Kids get excited by these types of things and it can play into their decision-making. The venue that you play in is now not the only facility that you will be judged on. Practice facilities and other extraneous items such as charter flights, meal money, athlete dorms, etc.. all matter.

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