Column: Cook Hall beginning to pay off

There’s a budding sense of excitement — or maybe just anticipation — for future IU basketball seasons.

IU basketball coach Tom Crean is beginning to put together a formidable 2012 recruiting class. Cody Zeller is considering IU for 2011. Last year’s sizeable freshmen class can only get better in the course of three years.

But one element that’s already in place for IU basketball is impressive new facilities — namely, Cook Hall.

In the past few years, the drive down 17th Street has dramatically changed. For football, there’s now a Big Ten-looking stadium with a not-quite-Jerry-Jones-esque scoreboard. For basketball, it’s all about Cook Hall.

It’s impressive, it’s new, and from the outside it looks pretty cool at night.

As the IU basketball team prepares for this season, the Cook Hall element can’t be understated.

The 67,000-square foot building will pay dividends this season. And it will pay dividends with recruiting in the next several seasons.

No, Cook Hall will not win games for the Hoosiers this year. It’s just a building (a really nice building). But what it provides for the players is remarkable.

As I was given a tour Thursday, it was almost as if the players were strategically placed around the facility to show off everything it has to offer.

Some players were shooting hoops on the practice court. A few were soaking in an ice cold bath. Others were utilizing the sparkling new locker room.

Sounds like typical basketball team stuff? Sure.

Do teams need top-of-the-line facilities to be successful? Maybe not.

But any school, any team, any college basketball player would envy what Cook Hall provides.

When I interviewed Jordan Hulls, Maurice Creek and Matt Roth, they all emphasized the same thing: 24-hour access to the building.

With the swipe of an ID card, an IU basketball player has access to the facility. That means players can work out at their convenience.

“We can go in there at 12 o’clock at night if we want to and get some shots up,” sophomore guard Hulls said. “From that standpoint, we had no reason not to be in the gym.”

In past years, the men’s team shared Assembly Hall with the women’s team. Sometimes other events would be going on in the building, which would conflict with practice time. None of those things are issues now.

“We can go there, turn the lights on and shoot whenever we want,” junior guard Roth said. “You don’t have to call and try to get someone to open the door or anything like that.”

As I walked around Cook Hall last week, I tried to think about it from the viewpoint of a recruit.

From a competitive standpoint, the new digs rival what any Big Ten school has to offer. Some conference opponents don’t have separate practice facilities. Some (like Purdue University) are in the works of adding comparable buildings.

Not to state the obvious, but IU can highlight this building to any recruit. If I’m a recruit and I’m putting together a pros-and-cons list for each school, Cook Hall is a top reason to lean toward IU.

With the addition of this facility, the stage is set. It’s set for providing improvement this season. It’s set for welcoming recruiting classes in the next several years.

That anticipation for future success may soon just be present reality.


E-mail: nmhart@indiana.edu