Men's Basketball Coach Jim Boeheim
Opening statement:
“Obviously, we are so grateful for all of the people that are involved in this – Joyce Hergenhan – and so many people who have made this possible. And obviously, when Carmelo started this off with making this tremendous gift to Syracuse basketball, it’s something that’s going to help men’s and women’s basketball.
It will be a tremendous recruiting tool, but it will also be our own place to practice. The training room will be as good as any one in the country. Everything will be done in absolutely the best possible way and that’s what Carmelo wanted and that’s what Carmelo’s people wanted and that’s what Daryl (Dr. Gross) has insisted on from the very beginning. If you’re going to do something, let’s do it the right way.
The Carrier Dome has long been the premiere place to play basketball – college basketball – and now, we have a premiere practice facility, which is going to take us forward from here. It’s something that everybody is doing, but I think that we will have a facility that will be second to none. I’m just grateful for all of the support we’ve had – from Daryl and from the Chancellor with all that she has done to make this dream become possible. And, obviously, it started with Carmelo and all of these players sitting here will be the ones who benefit from this facility – and the future players here at Syracuse. So, I couldn’t be happier with this building – or more proud of any player than I am with Carmelo, for what he is doing for our program.”
On the importance of the facility:
“I’ve seen a few facilities and there are a lot of nice ones that are opening as we speak. And, there are several that had been opened over the last five or six years. I think in each case they have been instrumental in helping those schools – especially the early ones like Florida. I think that was a tremendous boost for their program. Now, in our league, Villanova is opening one, St. John’s has, Cincinnati has a new building, Louisville has a new practice facility, Pittsburgh obviously has a new arena which has a practice facility in it. So, these are all things that are going forward in our league and throughout the country. Kentucky is opening one this year. So, there are a number of very, very fine practice facilities out there. Now, we will have one, as well.
On Carmelo’s name on the building:
“Well, I think the name and what Carmelo has done has helped us and will continue to help us as we go forward. That’s a huge part of college basketball. There’s a recruiting aspect that will help us. I think just to have a place where the players can go in and practice – there will be a handprint code on the door. If they want to shoot at 10 o’clock in the morning, they can go in and shoot – well, that might be unrealistic – maybe 6 o’clock at night or 8 o’clock at night if they want to go in. Paul (Harris) likes to shoot at 2:00 in the morning sometimes. That will give him the opportunity to go in there and be able to clank a few shots up there.”
On the process of everything:
“I had thought about it for awhile and have seen the facilities go up around the country. The fact that I think Manley can be used – and we try to use it for 20 sports – really it’s not good for football, lacrosse, or for women’s field hockey because there’s no turf in there, obviously. It’s not a good facility for them. Short of building a $30-million building – we have a $30 million building – if we can get a practice facility, now Manley can be converted into a very, very fine indoor practice facility for a host of other sports. Also, the fact that we don’t have a place to practice when the Dome is in football mode. There can be volleyball games in here, there can be different events in this building. We don’t have a place. There’s always been kind of a thought process with me that we needed our own practice facility over the last few years.
Juli (Boeheim) and I actually talked about it and she asked Carmelo – I was afraid to do it – she’s pretty good at getting into people. He agreed to do it. Once Carmelo really came on board – it’s not just his gift, which is obviously huge, I think other people decide to get involved in this. I am confident that we can get this money raised with Daryl, Scott (Sidwell, senior associate a.d./development), Sean (Kerins, associate a.d./development) and Lisa Moore (assistant a.d./development) – all the people working on this thing to get this money raised hopefully before we even start in the spring.
Carmelo Anthony
On Juli Boeheim getting everything going:
“When Juli first came to me and said ‘my husband doesn’t really want to ask you, but I’m going to ask you. We’re trying to build a facility and do you want to be a part of it?’ I said ‘yes’. Then, she broke it down to me with what was going to be needed. We went back, me and my team, sat down and we figured out a way to get it done. Here we are today breaking the ribbon.”
On thinking this would happen back in ’03:
“When I was here, Coach Boeheim told me after we won it – I remember sitting in this room and telling him that I was leaving. He told to go over there, pack my bags and never come back. I gave him what he wanted. I never thought I would be here cutting the ribbon with my name on the building – as legendary as that is.”
On having name on the building:
“I don’t think there is an active athlete in the world today who has their own building – especially at my age. And, I’m still in the game. It’s my fifth year in the game. I don’t think any athletes – if there is one, I don’t know who it is that has their own facility.”
On the blueprints and special effects:
“We made it all glass – as you can see. There is a lot of things that are going into it – swimming pools, state of the art locker rooms, multiple courts. Like Coach Boeheim said, you can go in there any time. So, hopefully you can utilize that.”
On the handprint technology working for him:
“I hope I can get a key so I can just walk in. I don’t think I’ll need that.”
On loyalty to Syracuse and the community and town:
“Well, in the fall when I first got here, my plan was to stay here at least two to three years. I didn’t think I was going to do what I did in that one year. But, playing in front of 30,000 people almost every night and walking around – we were like the Beatles when we were here. So, walking around and getting that love around the city, it felt good. I always told Coach Boeheim that whatever he needed me to do, I’m going to do it.”
On talking to the team:
“I talk to some of the guys sometimes during the season. I don’t really have much to say to them – we were just having fun out there on the basketball court, playing basketball. I try not to be too much of a teacher. I just try to just go out there and have fun with them – let them ask me questions.”
On leaving Syracuse a better person:
“I think that I’ve proved that to the city, to the whole community. Like I said, I’ll let you determine if I was a good or bad person. I know I was a great person. This is something that is fun, but at the same time it’s something that’s monumental. I’m pretty sure both programs are going to utilize the opportunity.”
Director of Athletics Dr. Daryl Gross
On timeline for the facility:
“It shouldn’t take more than a year and a half. I have so many dates going on in my mind –don’t hold me on the specifics of it. Maybe afterwards, we can get you the exact dates on that. But, this project is going to move very, very fast.”
On changes to Manley:
“It will change because basketball won’t be in there. And, there won’t be a basketball court right in the middle of it. And obviously, Manley has so many great memories. From the days of basketball that Jim is obviously very aware of. And a tremendous history – a lot of you remember that Manley was built to be a football practice facility – it used to have windows on it. So, now we’re going to get back to what will really help us out. With the weather here, you have teams that are waiting in line to get into the Dome for practice. So now, all of a sudden, exponentially you increase all of your practice opportunities. If we’re going to sit here and say that we want all of our teams to be champions, they have to have the right facilities to go practice in. There is going to be field turf in there – it’s going to look really, really nice. You’ll see from Carmelo’s building all the way through a lobby where you’ll see all the way to Manley Field House. It’s about giving your student-athletes a chance to be extraordinary. They’ll have the best facilities in the country. All of our teams now have a place to practice. You don’t have to bus all the way up to the Dome and do all of those things. Now, [Andrew] Robinson in the spring time, if it’s still snowing or whatever, he can go out and practice and throw the ball in this field house. We’ve helped a whole bunch. What Carmelo has done today not only helped basketball, it’s helped all of our student-athletes. That’s what the big ‘wow’ is here – it’s totally amazing.”
On more fundraising for Manley’s renovations:
“We never stop fundraising. If we’re going to be the best program in the country in all of our sports then we have to continue to get resources to do those things. We want to make this community proud. We need people to give to us to help us reach those goals.”
Women’s Basketball Coach Quentin Hillsman
First of all I obviously want to thank Carmelo (Anthony) for his generosity and what he has given our programs.
It is amazing that we are standing here today. Just the support coach (Jim) Boeheim and Dr. (Daryl) Gross have given us for even for allowing us to be in this building because this could have been different. There are a lot of programs in the country that have practice facilities that their women’s teams aren’t able to use and aren’t welcome. From day one when Carmelo (Anthony) first gave the gift coach (Boheim) and Dr. (Daryl) Gross supported us and made sure we had a chance to be in the facility and applaud them for that.
One thing that I know that is very important for winning is to have a great facility. I think this practice facility puts us in the upper echelon of women’s basketball. This facility is huge when we compare ourselves to the teams that we are competing against in the country for our recruits. This facility gives us a chance to win. So hopefully we can live up the challenges, demands and expectations of everybody. We are going to fight hard, play hard and continue to bring the best players in the country to Syracuse.
Thank you very much.