When Clemson played its final regular season home basketball game in early March, it signaled the end of an era at Littlejohn Coliseum. Serving as home for both basketball teams for more than three decades, Littlejohn was in need of some major improvements if Clemson was to keep pace with the rest of the ACC from a facilities standpoint.
Wednesday the school announced that it has received final approval for a renovation project that is estimated to cost $63.5 million, with work expected to be completed in time for the 2016-17 season. While the women’s basketball team will play its games on campus next season, the men’s program will play its home games in nearby Greenville, South Carolina.
While playing away from campus may not be the optimal situation for Brad Brownell’s program, getting these much-needed improvements that will also lead to the building of new practice facilities, locker rooms, meeting rooms and offices is a definite positive. The temporary inconvenience (the school will announce transportation plans at a later date) is outweighed by the positive of having new facilities to entice recruits with.
According to the announcement, this project will be financed by the athletic department and members of the IPTAY (which stands for “I pay ten a year”) athletic booster group.