If there's any truth to the rumor about Palumbo renovations indicating a greater commitment to the program, don't you think that might garner the interest of better coaching candidates??

What can they do to the Palumbo that hasnt been done?  The court itself is pretty sweet, I think.  THey put in seats, they finally painted things from dirty white to red and blue, newer scoreboard is in, although its limited, they put in the new locker rooms/lounge for the players.
Other than building an entire new arena, what can really be done?  Fresh hot dogs?  I dont know.  Its just cold in there, not the temperature, but the feeling/atmosphere.   I guess when 898 people show up for a game, its not going to feel too good regardless.

But I would think, in a small way, it could help draw some more coaching(not necessarily better) interest if something was done to show said coach an invested interest from the school.

Regarding Palumbo, for those old enough to remember, there used to be quite a few concerts there in the late 80's and early 90's.  These were big national touring acts... Tom Petty, Yes, Elvis Costello, Keith Richards, Aerosmith, Red Hot Chili Peppers, etc. etc.  The building fell out of favor due to poor acoustics, lack of infrastructure to support staging and lighting, bleacher seating etc. etc.

Since the University probably only uses Palumbo 60 days per year for Athletics and Administration (commencements, conferences, etc.), perhaps they should be taking a look at turning Palumbo back into a state of the art multi use facility to fill up some of the other 300 days and tap into another revenue source.

Partnering with somebody like Live Nation to create a concert/show venue that could intimately seat for indoor concerts 2,000 to 4,000 might be attractive.  You could have a larger capacity concert space than indoor Stage AE and the Carnegie Library of Homestead Music Hall, but less capacity than PPG or StarLake/First Niagara/KeyBank.

No idea if this is a viable option, but it might be a way to justify the cost of a renovation which DU Athletics would have a hard time supporting.  Might be able to grab Ford as a sponsor, since they are sinking a billion dollars into Pittsburgh - the Ford Stage at AJ Palumbo presents in concert... Ten Years Rebuild featuring Jim Ferry on vocals (you gotta do something after your head coaching career is over).

I saw 3 concerts, that I remember, in there, 2 were awful.  They could probably built it higher, put classrooms on top of whats there now, if the structure is solid.  Or rip the whole thing down, play a season at PPG Paints, somehow work around the Pens schedule, and then build a new arena, 4-5K seats, make it state of the art for such things as concerts, games, classrooms, etc.  And get a local company to sponsor it.  The Duquesne UPMC Sports Arena 

Last edited by townsonkid (2/14/2017 3:24 pm)

When we talk about keeping it in the family, Kenya Hunter is the obvious choice.  What more does he have to do as an assistant?  He was even the associate head coach at Grown!

http://www.collegeinsider.com/mens-mid-major-top-25.php

Might be a good place to mine for a current Head Coach or a Top Assistant. I mentioned the guy from Vermont in another thread.

PhoenixRising2 wrote:

Regarding Palumbo, for those old enough to remember, there used to be quite a few concerts there in the late 80's and early 90's.  These were big national touring acts... Tom Petty, Yes, Elvis Costello, Keith Richards, Aerosmith, Red Hot Chili Peppers, etc. etc.  The building fell out of favor due to poor acoustics, lack of infrastructure to support staging and lighting, bleacher seating etc. etc.

Since the University probably only uses Palumbo 60 days per year for Athletics and Administration (commencements, conferences, etc.), perhaps they should be taking a look at turning Palumbo back into a state of the art multi use facility to fill up some of the other 300 days and tap into another revenue source.

Saw Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe there back about 1989 or so. Great show!
 

HookShot wrote:

Dooley would be OK, but the better choice is his league rival at North Florida, Matt Driscoll. Built an NCAA program from scratch. And, he is a Pittsburgh kid!

I would worry that Dooley is living off of Andy Enfield's work. No problem with Driscoll, although I don't care about him being from here, other than the possibility that he might desire to come home, which might improve our chances. Scott Edgar was local too. Didn't help at all..
 

townsonkid wrote:

What can they do to the Palumbo that hasnt been done?  The court itself is pretty sweet, I think.  THey put in seats, they finally painted things from dirty white to red and blue, newer scoreboard is in, although its limited, they put in the new locker rooms/lounge for the players.
Other than building an entire new arena, what can really be done?  Fresh hot dogs?  I dont know.  Its just cold in there, not the temperature, but the feeling/atmosphere.   I guess when 898 people show up for a game, its not going to feel too good regardless.

But I would think, in a small way, it could help draw some more coaching(not necessarily better) interest if something was done to show said coach an invested interest from the school.

Went to Bonnies vs. GW in D.C. on Saturday. GW has done a rally amazing job with that venue in the last 4 years. Used to remind me very much of Palumbo. Now it is a very attractive, modern, small arena. Exactly what DU you should aim for.

Even though GW controlled the game almost start to finish, SBU crowd was louder & prouder. That says a lot about what they have accomplished in the last 5 or 6 seasons after enduring a horrible controversy. 

DU can do it too!
 

No retreads need apply!

ED, here's a video on the Smith Center; seats 4,338 for basketball.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE4TVcaD9ls
Hard to believe that it opened in 1975 and built for $5 million.  Donors and GW sunk another $43 million into a complete renovation that was completed in 2011.

Dear Moderators...

Thank you for keeping this pinned in the forefront as the first topic.  Actually, and I could have easily missed it, I don't remember anything being pinned first like this in the last 7 plus years, but whether it was or wasn't, the point is this was a very smart thing to do so we never lose site of what the program needs.
Thank you,
FAM

Last edited by FAM (2/16/2017 9:01 am)