Hey folks,
Got an e-mail from a reader named Gregg today asking if we knew of any updates regarding the baseball and softball complexes that were supposed to accompany the North End Zone Project and the new basketball facilities. Funny you should ask...
I sat down with Jack Garrett, the assistant athletic director for facilities and student services, last week to talk about progress on all of these projects, and his exact words were that IU is "gently applying our foot to the brake" on both the baseball and softball fields. He indicated there were concerns both financial -- the sinkhole in the football field and some unexpected complications with the basketball facility -- and locational -- the state police moved out of their post at the corner of Fee Lane and the bypass, possibly opening that space for use.
Both problems have been solved, according to Garrett, but it's still not clear when progress might be seen in the way of baseball and softball facilities. Both sports are certainly eligible for an upgrade from their current facilities.
It also remains to be seen how this delay might affect the Hoosiers' ability to recruit, as the new fields certainly are a good pitch to high school kids.
