By Jim Gazzolo

While rebuilding of the basketball arena continued across the street Wednesday, the remaking of the McNeese State athletic department took another step forward.

Inside the Doland Fieldhouse, Athletic Director Heath Schroyer and university brass announced they had signed the first naming rights deal to an athletic facility in school history.

The new name of the on-campus home of McNeese basketball is now The Legacy Center.

For the next 10 years, David and Kimberly Griffin, owners of Legacy Jewelers and the Nelson Road Chick-fil-A have purchased the naming rights to the arena for $2.5 million.

What is being called a “donation” is officially the largest gift for naming rights to an athletic facility in McNeese history.

“These are the days I have envisioned,” said Schroyer. “This is truly historic for our school and our community.”

McNeese has named other sports facilities to thank big donors and long-time employees, but this is the first time an actual naming rights deal was done. It opens up an entire new opportunity for fresh revenue to the school and puts McNeese on the playing field with other universities.

“Yes we are looking to do more of this in the future,” Schroyer said. “We are thinking big and we are going to be bold. This is aggressive it’s big.”

For the Griffins it’s about becoming an even bigger part of the school and giving back to the community they call home.

“It’s not McNeese sports, it’s McNeese coaches, it’s McNeese athletes,” David Griffin said. “It is about the people.

“We want to give back to our community. This is not the only thing we are doing. We were looking to make a big impact and when the naming rights came up it dinged me in the eyes.”

Griffin said he has bought into the plans of Schroyer and the school, which is looking to grow in college athletics. McNeese has been rumored to be looking to move into a new conference and maybe even up a division in football. That is something that interests Griffin, who said he would love to see it.

“Their vision is big and it is clear,” Griffin said. “We want this not to be LSU country but to be McNeese country. This is our home school and that is something we want to be a part of and will do what we can to help.”

While McNeese won’t official say it is leaving the Southland, President Daryl Burckel has said publicly they will do what is in the best interest of McNeese. Just last week he stated that if the opportunity was right “we will not miss that train again,” referring to a league change.

The selling of naming rights has long been a practice of big schools and profession sports teams. In June, Louisiana-Lafayette signed a 15-year deal worth $15 million with Our Lady of Lourdes for the naming rights to the school’s football stadium, Cajun Field.

“I think naming rights is both the present and the future in college,” Schroyer said then. “It is going on all over the place. It is something we have to look into and become a part of.”

Griffin said the new name of the arena is a “call to action” for people to help make the community better. Griffin has fostered and adopted children and wants to use the arena’s name in building on that commitment. He also hopes others will get involved as well.

“We didn’t want our name on the building,” Griffin said. “It is bigger than a business. It is our life’s purpose to use business to impact lives.”

Currently, the arena is being repaired after the hurricanes of last year and won’t be ready to host games until at least December according to Schroyer. That’s when the first events will take place The Legacy Center.

“It will be great when we get back in there with everything fresh,” Schroyer said. “It will be a great lift to the campus and community.”

McNeese’s basketball teams played its home games last year at Burton Coliseum, which was the old home court before the on-campus arena was opened two years ago.

This move by the university seems to be setting a course for a future of upgrading the entire way athletics are handled by McNeese.

“I’m excited about the athletic team we have put together and the direction we are headed,” Burckel said.

You get the feeling this isn’t the last big announcement Schroyer and company will be making. It seems more is to come.