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Harvard unveils plans for new basketball arena

Tommy Amaker

Harvard, seeing its men’s basketball brand on the rise nationally, has unveiled plans for a new basketball arena to be completed by 2022, multiple outlets are now reporting.

“The university and the Harvard-Allston Task Force have been meeting over several months to discuss many elements of the plan,” Kevin Casey, a spokesman for Harvard, told the Boston Globe.

“We are pleased to take this important step forward in the master planning process next week and look forward to our continued discussions within the university, with the city and with our Allston neighbors.”

According to Harvard Magazine, which outlined some specifics of the plan, the arena is slated to be 60,000 square feet, housed within a four- to nine-story building that would seat close to 2,700 people.

It would be a much-needed upgrade for the Crimson, who have been playing at Ray Lavietes Pavilion since it was constructed in 1926.

The increasing visibility of the Harvard program in recent years has been for a number of reasons, both good and bad.

Last season, coach Tommy Amaker led his team to its first NCAA tournament appearance since 1946. In the NBA, alumnus Jeremy Lin was a breakout star for the New York Knicks.

But recent revelations of a widespread cheating scandal at the university implicated team co-captains Kyle Casey and Brandyn Curry, who both withdrew from the school.

Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_