COLUMBUS – Dozens of MUW student athletes gathered Wednesday on the second floor of the Hogarth Student Center and excitedly waited to get a glimpse of what all the chatter has been about.
Soon after, members of faculty and administration began pouring in close behind and the excited murmurs from the floor picked up a notch when they were finally let through and into the grand opening of the university’s new Holland Hollow Student-Athlete Center.
Covering 3,200 square feet, the new facility, which is named after former athletes and donors Rebecca “Becky” Smith and Sandy Holland, is designed to elevate the student-athlete experience and comes equipped with a new chair-back theatre style seating area with a projector for watching film and a larger area full of conference-style tables, desks and comfortably padded chairs and couches that can be used by the student-athletes in a variety of ways.
“This is the most significant donation to date since we have reintroduced athletics,” athletic director Buddy Foster said. “Thanks to the generosity of Sandy Holland and Becky Smith, the new space will have a wide-ranging impact on our student-athletes.”
Jerseys of the university’s many athletic teams hang on the freshly painted walls along with a large TV and a brag board that keeps track of MUW’s athletic achievements, like its two All-American and 112 All-Conference selections.
“It’s truly like the big time,” head men’s basketball coach and assistant director of athletics Dean Burrows said of the new center. “A lot of Division I schools have something similar, and we’re right there. It goes a long way and will help out with recruiting and keeping the student athletes experience for these current student-athletes what we want as coaches and what we want it to be like for them.”
One of the best parts about the new center is having a comfortable space just to watch film, Burrows said. Instead of cramming all of his players into his office or finding an empty classroom to use, all of the Owls’ athletic teams have a comfortable designated space they can all use.
“Being able to have this opportunity, it’s a blessing in many varieties and in many ways,” Burrows said.
But the Holland Hollow Student Athlete Center offers the space to do much more than just watching film; it provides student-athletes the room to work and grow in all aspects of life.
“…I think the biggest thing for me, from my perspective from being a part of this process and seeing this come to reality, is you get to teach life,” Burrows said. “You can do mock interviews there. You can bring in local business and do interviews with them and teach them life skills whether it’s financial-literacy training, you can do that in there. … Yes the athletic component (is important), but really, the life is big to me.”
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