Posted this in another thread, but it probably deserves a thread of its own. Those questioning the James Dickey hire need to understand just how bad the Hofheinz Pavilion situation is and UH's facilities in general. They are beyond awful. The fact that he was able to lure Sampson -- a guy with legit NBA options -- a year ago was downright miraculous:
But there have been hardships for Penders at Houston, a commuter school of 36,104 students.
He said that his office is bigger than the team's locker room in Hofheinz Pavilion, an 8,500-seat multiple-purpose arena that opened in 1969. The edges of the arena's court are cracked and held together in some places by duct tape. Some seats have protruding springs, and Penders says the "luxury suites" that line the top of the arena resemble World War II pill boxes. Over the years, he recalls having to kick out several homeless people who were living in the arena.
"Everything's just old around here," Coleman said. "I would think for Division I it would look way better than this. When we go to Memphis or Central Florida, it's like, 'Oh.' "
Houston's facilities were no secret to Rhoades. Since his hiring in June 2009, he has focused on fund-raising in an effort to make what could eventually be more than $100 million in improvements.
"There's no question that our facilities need some T.L.C.," Rhoades said.
So far, there have been baby steps. Until two weeks ago, Penders said his players had not been able to take showers in the locker room at Hofheinz during his tenure because of cracked floor tiles that caused water to leak onto the court. But there are still other problems. While being interviewed courtside, Penders swatted at mosquitoes buzzing around his head and showed a mosquito bite on his leg.
"It was a cold winter, so they all come in here," Penders said.
The challenges do not stop there. While most coaches have a flat-screen television and DVD player in their office, he has a 17-year-old television and a VCR. His team's only DVD player is across the hall from his office, so he bought a $70,000 video system with eight televisions with his own money so he could scout opponents at home. He paid for the framed pictures in his office and had to wipe the grease off of two floral-patterned chairs in his office when he was hired.
Even his son, Tommy Penders Jr., the coach of Clear Lake High School in suburban Houston, ribs his father about what he has to work with at Houston.
"He says, 'Dad, come see my stuff,' " Penders said. "I've seen his locker room. It's nicer and bigger. They've got flat screens and video stuff."
NYT on Houston's basketball facilities
But there have been hardships for Penders at Houston, a commuter school of 36,104 students.
He said that his office is bigger than the team's locker room in Hofheinz Pavilion, an 8,500-seat multiple-purpose arena that opened in 1969. The edges of the arena's court are cracked and held together in some places by duct tape. Some seats have protruding springs, and Penders says the "luxury suites" that line the top of the arena resemble World War II pill boxes. Over the years, he recalls having to kick out several homeless people who were living in the arena.
"Everything's just old around here," Coleman said. "I would think for Division I it would look way better than this. When we go to Memphis or Central Florida, it's like, 'Oh.' "
Houston's facilities were no secret to Rhoades. Since his hiring in June 2009, he has focused on fund-raising in an effort to make what could eventually be more than $100 million in improvements.
"There's no question that our facilities need some T.L.C.," Rhoades said.
So far, there have been baby steps. Until two weeks ago, Penders said his players had not been able to take showers in the locker room at Hofheinz during his tenure because of cracked floor tiles that caused water to leak onto the court. But there are still other problems. While being interviewed courtside, Penders swatted at mosquitoes buzzing around his head and showed a mosquito bite on his leg.
"It was a cold winter, so they all come in here," Penders said.
The challenges do not stop there. While most coaches have a flat-screen television and DVD player in their office, he has a 17-year-old television and a VCR. His team's only DVD player is across the hall from his office, so he bought a $70,000 video system with eight televisions with his own money so he could scout opponents at home. He paid for the framed pictures in his office and had to wipe the grease off of two floral-patterned chairs in his office when he was hired.
Even his son, Tommy Penders Jr., the coach of Clear Lake High School in suburban Houston, ribs his father about what he has to work with at Houston.
"He says, 'Dad, come see my stuff,' " Penders said. "I've seen his locker room. It's nicer and bigger. They've got flat screens and video stuff."
NYT on Houston's basketball facilities
