Where is Rupp Arena? Striking renovation should answer and put end to that question.
Being unremarkable seems incompatible with Kentucky basketball. It’s the winningest program in college basketball history. Hosannas abound. A double-dribble can lead to scrutiny, if not panic. Almost 30 years after the fact, T-shirts bearing the message “I still hate (Christian) Laettner” are marketed and worn.
Yet, Bill Owen, the president and CEO of the Lexington Center Corporation, recently recalled how arguably the most iconic representation of Kentucky basketball’s enduring preeminence has been — huh? — inconspicuous.
“I’ve had people at the Hilton ask me, where is Rupp Arena,” Owen said. “It’s happened three or four times.”
The Hilton Hotel in downtown Lexington is a block east and a block north of Rupp Arena. Basically, only Triangle Park separates the Hilton from Rupp Arena. Yet, where is Rupp Arena?!
Of course, Rupp Arena is currently being transformed. The upgrade, which includes the entire Central Bank Center, began in August of 2018. It’s scheduled for completion next January.
The inside of the arena will look the same next season. Upgrades were made in 2016 (huge scoreboard over center court, digital ribbon boards at the bottom of the upper arena) and 2019 (bleachers replaced with chair back seats in much of the upper arena).
It’s the exterior of Rupp Arena and the Central Bank Center’s convention halls that should end the where-is-Rupp-Arena questions.
Owen led a tour of the $310 million upgrade last week.
Perhaps most striking is the east side of Rupp Arena. The wall tilts toward Triangle Park in a Leaning Tower of Pisa effect.
“We expect fans to pretend to hold it up” while posing for pictures, Owen said with a smile.
Former Lexington Mayor Jim Gray, who promoted the idea of making Rupp Arena a more compelling landmark, said the leaning wall was part of the initial design plan for the upgrade.
“Designed to reach out and embrace the city,” he said of the intended message.
Sections of opaque outer walls will be replaced with glass, which further brings the arena and city together.
A walk through the convention center made the sight of narrow rectangular windows set at an angle striking.
“Nothing is perpendicular,” Owen said of this artistic flair. “Nothing is square.”
Wooden stairs in the grand lobby off Triangle Park prompted another story. The original idea was to have the stairs made of maple. Then walnut was considered. Finally, it was decided to use oak.
And not just any oak. The wood came from oaken fence panels at Claiborne Farm.
Owen noted that the wood on a nearby elevator shaft resembles the inside of a bourbon barrel, and the stairs look like the outside of a bourbon barrel.
A club room that can seat 300 will be at court level. It is planned for the University of Kentucky’s most generous donors. Only UK — and not the Lexington Center Corporation — will be permitted to use this club room, Owen said.
Club rooms for the UK president (capacity 400) and other UK guests/donors (capacity 1,100) are on the level one floor up from the court.
Walkways that run parallel to existing concourses will ease fan congestion and allow for more concession stands, Owen said.
A striking feature of meeting rooms in the convention center is walnut paneling. And there will be an outdoor terrace that overlooks Mary Todd Lincoln’s house and garden.
Bottom line: The upgraded Rupp Arena will have a presence. The project will “free Rupp,” as Gray described it.
“The primary driving feature of the design was to be able to see Rupp Arena and celebrate the brand,” the former Lexington mayor said. “Celebrate the arena. Through celebrating that, we celebrate the city.
“All the UK fans all across this state are going to find it the temple of UK basketball that the brand deserves.”
Double team?
Faithful Herald-Leader reader and sharer of musings via email Ernie Henninger wrote this past week to say he had noticed multiple stories about heralded recruits possibly joining Kentucky’s program and, as it turned out, Davion Mintz returning to play next season.
Henninger wondered how so many possible players could be transformed into a cohesive team.
“Just how long is the home team bench in Rupp Arena?” he asked.
Henninger then offered a presumably tongue-in-cheek solution.
“UK should have two varsity basketball teams, each with their own coach, plus John Calipari as commanding general of the whole enterprise . . . ,” he wrote. “Is there any other way to manage the excess of phenoms all seeking UK stardom as the path to the NBA?”
Freedom of movement
Jamal Mashburn, arguably the most impactful Kentucky player in the last 30 years, was the guest on a recent podcast on The Players’ Tribune. He was the central figure in UK’s rise from a ban on postseason play in 1990 and 1991 to a run to the 1993 Final Four.
“Why I went to the University of Kentucky was because of Rick Pitino,” he said of the then-UK coach. “He was the one that really taught the game from the perspective of it’s not a position. You’re a basketball player. You should be comfortable in every aspect of the game. . . . There should not be a place on the court where I throw you the ball that you can’t operate.”
Mashburn endorsed so-called “positionless” basketball, saying players in pickup games are not confined to specific roles.
Mashburn called being pigeonholed as, say, a center or shooting guard “jail basketball.”
Business decisions
Jamal Mashburn, 48, welcomed retirement as a player in 2005.
“It gave me freedom to now pursue — full time — my business stuff,” he said on the podcast.
As of 2018, Mashburn was owner or among the owners of 34 Outback Steakhouses, 37 Papa John’s franchises and several car dealerships in Kentucky. He sits on the board of directors for the McClatchy media company, which includes the Lexington Herald-Leader.
He said his first business decision came when he was 10. Because he lived in the Bronx near Yankee Stadium, he and his father attended many Yankee games.
But when he was cut as a 10-year-old at a baseball tryout, “I made the decision to play basketball,” he said.
No Randle?
During a teleconference called to discuss players picked for the U.S. basketball team competing in this year’s Olympics, the absence of former UK standout Julius Randle from the roster sparked a question.
Jerry Colangelo, the managing director of USA men’s basketball, said Randle had been seriously considered. Randle won the NBA Most Improved Player award for the 2020-21 season.
But the decision was made to go with Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers rather than Randle, Colangelo cited Love’s experience in international basketball, his versatility and being a better fit as a role player as reasons for the decision.
U.S. vs. the world
Perhaps because of the many international players in the NBA, Jerry Colangelo was asked if the world has caught up to the United States in basketball.
“Well, only time will tell,” he said before noting that the shorter games in international basketball (40 minutes) as opposed to the NBA (48 minutes) enhances parity. Fewer minutes means less time to rally or make multiple comebacks, Colangelo said.
But he suggested the U.S. will continue to be highly competitive into the future.
“When you think about how do you replace Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, there’s always players coming along . . . ,” Colangelo said. “The future of basketball for our country — in my opinion — is very bright.”
The way it is
Jerry Colangelo has been the managing director of USA men’s basketball since 2005. He described this year’s Olympics as “my swansong.”
He expressed full confidence in his chosen successor: former Duke standout Grant Hill. “I couldn’t be more thrilled,” Colangelo said.
The coronavirus pandemic is a factor in the transition. Hill will attend the team’s practices, which begin July 6 in Las Vegas.
But because of COVID-related restrictions on traveling parties, Hill will not be at the Olympics in Tokyo (July 23-Aug. 8).
“It’s really a tight ship,” Colangelo said. “The travel party is reduced to a bare minimum. There’s no opportunity for Grant to even get credentials. That’s just the way it is.”
Happy birthday
To Tom Parker. He turned 71 on Thursday. . . . To Nancy Lieberman. She turned 63 on Thursday. . . . To UK Athletics Hall of Famer Ralph Hacker. He turned 77 on Friday. . . . To college basketball analyst Clark Kellogg. He turned 60 on Friday. . . . To former Notre Dame coach Digger Phelps. He turns 80 on Sunday (today). . . . To Todd May. He turns 57 on Monday. . . . To Lisa Leslie. She turns 49 on Wednesday.
