Post by 01- PirateDave on Feb 20, 2015 11:30:35 GMT -6
N.J.I.T. Will Get an Arena, but It Still Needs a Home
By BRENDAN PRUNTY FEB. 19, 2015
Drawing Of New Arena,Downtown Newark, NJ
Continue reading the main story......
For a man who was dealing with no heat upstairs and frozen pipes in his basement at home, Lenny Kaplan was remarkably upbeat on Thursday.
“Today is a very good day,” he said with a laugh.
So why was Kaplan so warm on one of the coldest days of the year?
Kaplan is the athletic director at the only independent Division I college in the country: New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark. His university has been turned down by conference after conference after being abandoned by the only league it was ever a member of.
But Kaplan hopes that may be about to change.
N.J.I.T. announced Thursday that it would break ground on a long-awaited $100 million multipurpose athletic facility this summer. The key component is an arena seating 3,500 fans for the institute’s highest-profile sport, men’s college basketball.
The team’s current home, the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Center, can accommodate only around 1,000.
N.J.I.T. may finally have the missing piece to become a member of a conference.
Continue reading the main story
RELATED COVERAGE
Players and coaches from North Carolina and Duke paused to honor Dean Smith before their game at Cameron Indoor Stadium.Duke and North Carolina Honor Dean Smith Before Blue Devils’ WinFEB. 18, 2015
“Our current facility was built in 1967,” N.J.I.T.’s president, Joel Bloom, said. “It’s subpar to just about any high school facility you’ll find in the area.”
Despite not having the advantage of belonging to a conference, the Highlanders have made a name for themselves this season. In December, N.J.I.T. knocked off Michigan, then ranked No. 17, in Ann Arbor — its first win over a ranked opponent.
But Coach Jim Engles, who took over in the midst of an N.C.A.A.-record 51-game losing streak in 2008, knew that the spotlight of the win would last only so long. In order to survive as a Division I university, N.J.I.T. had to find a conference home.
That only problem was that no conferences were lining up to take the university, and its outdated arena was an obvious reason.
“I think we become a strong candidate now for all of these leagues,” Engles said. “We can attract some conferences now with a new facility.” Kaplan said the institute was hoping for a September 2017 completion date.
Commissioners for the Northeast Conference, the America East Conference and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference each congratulated N.J.I.T. on the announcement of the new arena. But beyond that, they deferred comment.
One hope for N.J.I.T. could come from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, a league of historically black colleges and universities.
“New Jersey Institute of Technology is a top-flight academic institution,” said the league’s commissioner, Dennis Thomas. “Adding this type of facility sure doesn’t hurt with conference affiliation. From the MEAC’s perspective, it’s an attractive institution.”
Thomas added that his league, which has 13 members, was seeking to take in a 14th to round out its roster. He would not comment on the timetable for that process.
N.J.I.T. will not quibble about its future home. After making the move to Division I from Division II in 2006, it found a temporary spot in the Great West Conference — a mishmash of colleges mostly from the Midwest and the West. But the conference was never granted an automatic bid to the men’s N.C.A.A. tournament, and in 2013 it disbanded after five of its six remaining members left for other conferences.
From that point, the clock has been ticking for N.J.I.T. to upgrade its facilities to make itself more marketable.
“This has been in the works for a while now,” Engles said. “When I would meet with recruits, I would tell them, ‘We plan on building a new $100 million facility,’ but it was just pictures. It was never guaranteed until now.”
“If they didn’t want us for other reasons, it’s going to come out,” Kaplan said. “But the initial excuse for not taking us is now off the table.”
By BRENDAN PRUNTY FEB. 19, 2015
Drawing Of New Arena,Downtown Newark, NJ
Continue reading the main story......
For a man who was dealing with no heat upstairs and frozen pipes in his basement at home, Lenny Kaplan was remarkably upbeat on Thursday.
“Today is a very good day,” he said with a laugh.
So why was Kaplan so warm on one of the coldest days of the year?
Kaplan is the athletic director at the only independent Division I college in the country: New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark. His university has been turned down by conference after conference after being abandoned by the only league it was ever a member of.
But Kaplan hopes that may be about to change.
N.J.I.T. announced Thursday that it would break ground on a long-awaited $100 million multipurpose athletic facility this summer. The key component is an arena seating 3,500 fans for the institute’s highest-profile sport, men’s college basketball.
The team’s current home, the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Center, can accommodate only around 1,000.
N.J.I.T. may finally have the missing piece to become a member of a conference.
Continue reading the main story
RELATED COVERAGE
Players and coaches from North Carolina and Duke paused to honor Dean Smith before their game at Cameron Indoor Stadium.Duke and North Carolina Honor Dean Smith Before Blue Devils’ WinFEB. 18, 2015
“Our current facility was built in 1967,” N.J.I.T.’s president, Joel Bloom, said. “It’s subpar to just about any high school facility you’ll find in the area.”
Despite not having the advantage of belonging to a conference, the Highlanders have made a name for themselves this season. In December, N.J.I.T. knocked off Michigan, then ranked No. 17, in Ann Arbor — its first win over a ranked opponent.
But Coach Jim Engles, who took over in the midst of an N.C.A.A.-record 51-game losing streak in 2008, knew that the spotlight of the win would last only so long. In order to survive as a Division I university, N.J.I.T. had to find a conference home.
That only problem was that no conferences were lining up to take the university, and its outdated arena was an obvious reason.
“I think we become a strong candidate now for all of these leagues,” Engles said. “We can attract some conferences now with a new facility.” Kaplan said the institute was hoping for a September 2017 completion date.
Commissioners for the Northeast Conference, the America East Conference and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference each congratulated N.J.I.T. on the announcement of the new arena. But beyond that, they deferred comment.
One hope for N.J.I.T. could come from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, a league of historically black colleges and universities.
“New Jersey Institute of Technology is a top-flight academic institution,” said the league’s commissioner, Dennis Thomas. “Adding this type of facility sure doesn’t hurt with conference affiliation. From the MEAC’s perspective, it’s an attractive institution.”
Thomas added that his league, which has 13 members, was seeking to take in a 14th to round out its roster. He would not comment on the timetable for that process.
N.J.I.T. will not quibble about its future home. After making the move to Division I from Division II in 2006, it found a temporary spot in the Great West Conference — a mishmash of colleges mostly from the Midwest and the West. But the conference was never granted an automatic bid to the men’s N.C.A.A. tournament, and in 2013 it disbanded after five of its six remaining members left for other conferences.
From that point, the clock has been ticking for N.J.I.T. to upgrade its facilities to make itself more marketable.
“This has been in the works for a while now,” Engles said. “When I would meet with recruits, I would tell them, ‘We plan on building a new $100 million facility,’ but it was just pictures. It was never guaranteed until now.”
“If they didn’t want us for other reasons, it’s going to come out,” Kaplan said. “But the initial excuse for not taking us is now off the table.”
good luck to all!