Cougars Will Play on John Kresse Court at C of C's New Facility
10/2/2008 4:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Charles Bennett of the Charleston Post and Courier
After several months of deliberations, the College of Charleston has determined how it will honor former basketball coach John Kresse in the school's new arena.
The Cougars will play on John Kresse Court at Carolina First Arena, C of C athletic director Joe Hull said Wednesday.
"What we believe this does is recognize Carolina First for its generosity and recognizes coach Kresse for his extraordinary service to the college," Hull said.
Kresse said he's honored that his name will live on in the new building.
"It's very exciting for my family and myself to have the honor of the court being named for me," said Kresse, who coached the Cougars for 23 years before retiring in 2002 with a record of 560-143. "I've been associated with the College for 30 years now, and those have been the best years of my life. I'd also like to thank our president (George Benson) for this honor."
In addition, the new building will have a bronze plaque representing Kresse's achievements, and Kresse's name will be prominently displayed on the court.
The name "Carolina First Arena" also represents a change. The school had originally planned to call the building the "Carolina First Center," in compliance with a naming rights agreement with Carolina First Bank, which paid approximately $2 million towards the $45 million facility.
However, there's already a building called "Carolina First Center" a few blocks away in Charleston, as well as one in Greenville.
"To be honest, it just looked a little awkward with two other buildings called Carolina First Center," Hull said. "We wanted something logical, clear and defined for Carolina First as well as something that honored coach Kresse."
The 5,000-seat Carolina First Arena will feature 4,000 chair back seats, with approximately 1,000 bench seats for students. Total game-day capacity, including standing-room only, will be 5,300.
Seating is on two levels, with 3,500 on the lower level and 1,500 on the upper level. There's an open concourse that allows fans to see the game while they're at the concession stands.
Construction remains on target to meet the projected completion date of Nov. 10, although Hull said the schedule is tight. "You can either coast to the finish line or sprint to the finish line. We're sprinting."
The first games to be played are scheduled on Nov. 14, in the opening round of the eight-team, ESPN-sponsored Charleston Classic.
The new building replaces the adjacent John Kresse Arena, a cramped gymnasium-type facility with a capacity of 3,500 that the Cougars have been playing in since the 1982-83 season.
But Kresse harkens back to the first facility he coached in upon arriving at the College of Charleston in 1979.
"We played in the Willard Silcox P.E. Center," said Kresse, who recently accepted a two-year contract extension in his job as advisor to the athletic director. "It was 1,800 seats and no air conditioning. I was coming from St. John's and Madison Square Garden. So this is a tremendous step forward for the program to have a state-of-the-art facility. I'm biased, but I feel it's the top facility for basketball in the Southern Conference. I can tell you this, in a 30-year time frame, I think I've seen it all."
