Ever since the $82 million renovation of Memorial Coliseum got underway, there haven’t really been any updates on how things are coming along. Until now.
In Kenny Brooks‘ interview with BBN Tonight on Tuesday, he talked about the progress that is being made to make Memorial Coliseum a state-of-the-art facility again, like it was when it was first constructed in 1950. Additionally, Brooks reveals that he and the staff had to sell recruits and transfers on the renderings of what Memorial Coliseum would look like in the end, and it wasn’t easy.
“Having to put together a full roster, there was a lot of anxiety. There really was,” Brooks said about showing recruits and transfers Memorial Coliseum in its current form. “We were bringing kids in, and we were selling them on a vision. We didn’t have pretty Memorial to show them. We had to show them pictures.”
Later on in the interview, he added, “Getting here, it was like a dust bowl. We were selling kids on a vision — ‘Hey look, it’s gonna be nice, I promise you.’ As you see it coming together, you get more and more excited.”
Of course, those pictures and renderings were a huge factor in getting Brooks himself to Kentucky. Seeing the investment that UK had put into women’s basketball was one of the biggest factors in reeling in Brooks.
“It was one of the selling points for me,” Brooks mentioned. “The pictures were beautiful. I coached at Memorial one time, and it was loud. It was a great home-court advantage. Obviously with the renovations, it’s gonna get a bit of a face-lift, it’s gonna be shiny, it’s gonna be bright. It’s going to be a selling tool for us.”
On top of all of that, we finally got some updates on how Memorial Coliseum is shaping up after all this time.
“They renovated our locker rooms,” Brooks revealed. “It’s probably one of the best locker rooms I’ve ever seen.“
He added, “They put the floor down the other day, and that’s when it started really coming together,” Brooks explained. “I think it’s gonna be a great home-court advantage. There are a lot of times where you play in these big, beautiful arenas, and you may have 6,000 people, but it might look half-empty because it’s just so big. I think Memorial is the perfect size for women’s basketball.”
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