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basketball Edit

BC Basketball to Upgrade Facilities With Hoag Basketball Pavilion

Graphic courtesy of BC Athletics
Graphic courtesy of BC Athletics

It’s finally happening.

Boston College announced Thursday morning the initial details of a new 40,000-square-foot practice facility for the school’s men’s and women’s basketball programs, which will be connected to Conte Forum and named after University Trustee Michaela “Mikey” Hoag, BC ’86, and her husband Jay.

Neither BC basketball program has made the NCAA Tournament since 2009, and both have posted just one winning season in the last 10 years. Without winning, recruiting has been hard enough, and the fact that BC’s training and conditioning has been largely limited to Power Gym—where the volleyball team plays—hasn’t helped, either.

Now, that’s going to change. The Hoag Basketball Pavilion will feature a self-contained basketball practice facility. The 10,700-square-foot practice gym will have six courts, including a Conte Forum game court replica. Additionally, the facility will have a 1,400-square-foot nutrition center reserved exclusively for basketball student-athletes.

It’s important to note that BC installed a student-athlete fueling station on the first floor of Conte in January 2018, however, that wasn’t restricted to the basketball programs. Still, for some context, it hosts healthy snacks, televisions, and comfortable seating adorned with the BC logo.

The Hoag Basketball Pavilion will also have a 2,200-square-foot strength and conditioning center, from which the practice courts are accessible. Not only that, but the facility will offer a 1,400-square-foot sports medicine center. There, basketball student-athletes can use an underwater treadmill and plunge pools for treatment and recovery. The facility will be home to 2,100-square-foot locker rooms, accompanied by “dedicated lounges,” per department release.

And next to the practice gym will be a video room for scouting and coaching.

Thursday’s announcement comes after BC Athletics received a $15 million lead gift from the Hoags. As the chair and founder of “Part the Cloud,” Mikey leads a globally-renowned Alzheimer’s research project in Silicon Valley, while Jay is a founding general partner of venture capital firm TCV.

In total, the facility is estimated to cost $37 million, and more than $20 million has been raised for the project so far, according to Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports.

“We are most grateful for the generosity of Mikey and Jay Hoag on this transformational facility for our basketball programs,” BC AD Pat Kraft said in the department’s release. “From the first time I spoke to the Hoags, their love for Boston College was clearly evident.

“We can't thank them enough for making this tremendous gift, which greatly enhances the future of both our men's and women's basketball programs and the student-athletes who will benefit from their new, state-of-the-art, home away from home.”

Mikey is a founding member of the Council for Women of Boston College, and she has served on BC’s Board of Trustees since 2007. She and her husband have three children, including a son who graduated from BC in 2014.

“It was important to us to support both basketball programs and help position them for success for years to come,” the Hoags wrote in a statement to BC Athletics.

“The belief we have in the future of both programs under Earl Grant and Joanna Bernabei-McNamee’s leadership, along with the direction of BC Athletics under Pat Kraft, was a critical factor for us. We feel very fortunate to be able to help future generations of student-athletes improve both on and off the court in this exciting new facility.”

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