UMaine males’s basketball will play most of its video games at The Pit this season
The College of Maine males’s basketball workforce will play most of its dwelling video games on the Memorial Fitness center this season after splitting final 12 months’s video games between the venue, which is called The Pit, and the Cross Insurance coverage Heart in Bangor.
The UMaine girls’s basketball workforce performed all 14 of their dwelling video games at The Pit final season after leaving the Cross Insurance coverage Heart due primarily to scheduling conflicts.
The UMaine males performed six video games on the Cross Insurance coverage Heart and 5 at The Pit a season in the past.
In the course of the 2021-22 season, every workforce performed 11 video games on the Cross Insurance coverage Heart. The ladies additionally performed six video games at The Pit whereas the lads performed 4.
UMaine Athletic Director Jude Killy stated the transfer to The Pit has been prompted by a need to “attempt to play as many video games on campus as we are able to to make it simpler for our college students and our student-athletes.”
UMaine males’s basketball coach Chris Markwood stated The Pit has a “lot of historical past” however he additionally feels you will need to nonetheless play video games on the Cross Insurance coverage Heart.
“There are benefits to each,” Markwood stated. “The Cross Heart is a superb venue and we wish the Bangor group to have the ability to watch us play.”
Killy agreed.
“The Bangor group is a part of the realm and area we symbolize,” Killy stated. “We’ll at all times have open dialogue with [Cross Center general manager] Chris McGrail and the Cross Heart. Chris has been great to work with.”
Markwood echoed the identical sentiment about McGrail, saying the brand new common supervisor has at all times been very accommodating and has graciously allowed him to deliver recruits to the ability with a view to present them round.
Markwood stated it’s now as much as him and his workforce to “do our jobs and put a great product on the market so [the fans] will get behind us.”
Markwood led the Black Bears to a 13-17 marketing campaign in his first season final winter, which was probably the most wins for the reason that 2011-12 season.
All 4 of Markwood’s non-conference dwelling video games will probably be on the Memorial Fitness center and Killy
stated they’re at present ready for America East to launch the convention schedule to find out which video games will probably be performed in Orono and the few that will probably be performed in Bangor.
The change can even save UMaine cash.
Killy estimated the price of holding a recreation on the Cross Heart at $10,000 to $12,000 per recreation, and that features transportation for the workforce going from Orono to Bangor and different varied bills, along with the price of renting the ability.
A brand new on-campus enviornment is a part of the services improve made attainable by the $90 million Harold Alfond Basis reward for the athletic applications at UMaine.
It has but to be decided when the college will begin constructing the brand new basketball enviornment.
Markwood stated enjoying video games at The Pit will function a “bridge” to the brand new facility as they attempt to create a strong on-campus fan base for the long run.
“It’s higher for the scholars to have a facility on campus,” Markwood stated.
