The University of Maryland officially broke ground on the Barry P. Gossett Basketball Performance Center on Thursday.
The 44,000-square-foot building, which includes one dedicated practice court, features one oversized practice court, centrally located strength and conditioning facility, expanded locker rooms, film rooms and lounge areas for the men’s and women’s coaches and training staff. Athletic director Damon Evans told reporters the basketball facility is “hovering around a little bit over $52 million,” a $16 million increase from the original announcement due to rising construction costs.
“It has always been our vision at the University of Maryland to provide our student-athletes with the necessary resources so they can be successful athletically, academically and socially,” athletic director Damon Evans said. “The Barry P. Gossett Basketball Performance Center facility does just that.”
Clark Construction is leading the project with Gensler serving as the design consultant as Maryland builds its long-awaited facility, which is expected to be complete prior to the start of the fall 2025 semester. Maryland first announced the facility back in 2019 before Evans reconfirmed plans during Kevin Willard’s introductory press conference last year as Thursday marked the next step in the process.
“Being able to put that fork into the ground and see it happen is a dream come true because I know we were planning this for a long time,” head women’s basketball coach Brenda Frese said.
Maryland is the last Power Five school to break ground on a dedicated basketball practice facility, and with NIL taking college athletics by storm, Willard explained why the Barry P. Gossett Basketball Performance Center remains a vital project.
“I’m good friends with Ed Cooley and Providence opened up their facility two years ago and a year later, they were in the Sweet 16,” head coach Kevin Willard said. “Now again, very good team but what Ed said, the difference was that when the kids walked into the facility, they had everything there that they didn’t want to leave so they all hung out. They got to know each other better, got to know each other’s families. They worked out more, they played more. It’s the reason why the NBA is doing what they’re doing. San Antonio is building probably going to be the nicest anywhere in the world. They’re doing it not because, yes they want to attract free agents, but they want to make sure that when the players go in there they have everything to be their best.”
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