Team officials for Oklahoma City's NBA team toured area colleges last week to find a temporary practice facility for the franchise to use during the upcoming NBA season.
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Team chairman Clay Bennett, general manager Sam Presti, coach P.J. Carlesimo and director of basketball technology Paul Rivers visited the campuses of Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma Christian University and Southern Nazarene University last Wednesday.
Officials from each of those universities said Monday the team has not contacted them about a decision, and team spokesman Dan Mahoney said the franchise has "nothing to announce yet on (a) practice facility.”
Team officials toured each campus for about 30 minutes, looking at gymnasiums, locker rooms, weight rooms, potential office space and training rooms. No school official was given a timeline on when the team would make a decision.
The New Orleans Hornets used Southern Nazarene's Sawyer Center during their two-year displacement from 2005-07 following Hurricane Katrina.
"I think they had talked with the Hornets and they knew pretty well what we had done with the Hornets,” said SNU athletic director Bobby Martin. "So we kind of walked through those same facilities. It was very brief.”
Most of the Hornets' players lived in Edmond, and two of Oklahoma City's players, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook, recently told The Oklahoman they were interested in living close to the training site.
That seemingly would make Oklahoma Christian's Payne Athletic Center a more convenient location than Oklahoma City University or SNU's Bethany location.
"That's always a possibility,” said Ron Frost, Oklahoma Christian's director of university communications. "We've got an excellent facility, and if things work out it would be great to have them on our campus.”
Oklahoma Christian interim athletic director Chuck White and executive vice president Alfred Branch were out of town and unavailable for comment.
The Payne Athletic Center has two full-length basketball courts, a weight room facility and an Olympic-sized swimming pool, Frost said.
Oklahoma City's Abe Lemons Arena sits inside the 74,000-square-foot Freede Wellness Center, which was built in 2000 and has three basketball courts and two tracks.
Oklahoma City University athletic director Jim Abbott, however, said the facility typically is occupied from noon to 6:30 p.m.
The Hornets generally used SNU's Sawyer Center from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily.
"Our opinion and approach is about the same as it was when the Hornets were here, which was if there's something we can do to help what we see is a remarkable opportunity for our city then we want to try to do it,” Abbott said.
"But our students are our first priority, so it would be difficult for us to create a situation that made use of the facility impossible for them. And I don't think that's going to be the case. I don't think they're going to demand 24-hour access to the building and no one else can come. But we exist to educate and provide opportunities to our students first.”
Unlike the Hornets, who finalized their temporary move in late September, Oklahoma City's new NBA franchise has a little more time to make a decision before the start of training camp in October.
"They had to start training camp in two weeks,” Martin remembered about the Hornets. "They had a bunch of stuff in a truck and were wondering where they were going to put it. They were struggling. Still, I know that what the (former) Sonics are going through I would not enjoy going through.
"If we can help, we want to, and if they've got a better option that's fine. We understand that.”
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I see that the fake Philip is posting again. He's easy to spot because he's always writing something stupid and being a product of the Seattle public schools, he can't spell worth a damn. OKC isn't in a financial crisis......this isn't Seattle, you idiot.
To all you naysayers: When was the last time you got something for nothing and it was WORTH IT? You get what you pay for, and OKC will be better for having facilitated our new team's relocation. So SHUT UP. Idiots.
Actually, Gaylord brings up a very good point. After we spend all this money to poo-poo for Clay, the city wants to give him free office space when they are in a finacial crisis. Why should we all fell like cows going to slaughter.
Clay Bennett, Oklahoma City - Jul 15, 2008 at 9:43 am
and also because Clay couldn't just bring Presti and Carlesimo down to OKC from seattle just to look at possible practice gyms until the team was actually an OKC team. now give it a rest, 'gaylord.' all you do is try to come up with lame ways to dog the sonics ownership.
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