John Cook said this week that if all goes as planned, the Nebraska volleyball program will leave the NU Coliseum for the Devaney Sports Center after the 2012 season.
NU officials, working with an outside design team, are actively pursuing an estimated $27 million project to transform the current home of Nebraska basketball into the volleyball team's future digs.
Once renovations are complete, the Devaney arena will be a mix of new and old. Skyboxes will overlook a brilliantly colored court, lit much like the ring at a championship prizefight.
A false ceiling will hang at about row 12 of the current C Section, helping to recreate the intimacy that Nebraska volleyball has enjoyed at the Coliseum for some 35 years.
"It really comes down to this. We could stay here (at the Coliseum) and regret five years from now not doing something big for the program," Cook said. "If we don't do it now, it will never happen, because building costs are low and the money is there.
"I'm convinced 100 percent that it will be the nicest volleyball facility in the country."
The Devaney Center, home to Nebraska's basketball programs since the fall of 1976, became available when Lincoln voters in May approved a new downtown arena for the Huskers to play in. Completion of construction is set for 2013.
A day after the vote, athletic director Tom Osborne said NU still planned $20 million in improvements at Devaney, potentially with volleyball in mind. But it wasn't until recently that Cook, whose teams have won two national championships and eight Big 12 titles in 10 seasons, was sold on the move.
From an NU athletic department survey of volleyball fans, officials determined that the demand exists to sell out an arena with 7,000 seats. Of those, a significant number expressed an interest to upgrade to courtside seats, if available.
Currently, Nebraska offers around 50 courtside seats, priced from $2,000-$2,500 per season. There are no skyboxes at the Coliseum.
"I feel like we've got to take a shot to see if we can get more fans in and build our fan base," Cook said. "The survey numbers were pretty strong. People said they would buy right now."
The Coliseum, which seats around 4,000, has been sold out for 135 consecutive NU matches dating back to the 2001 season. The Huskers have consistently ranked No. 2 in attendance nationally, trailing only Hawaii.
And no arena in the country has been tougher on opposing teams. All-time, Nebraska is 481-32 at the Coliseum, including a 49-3 mark in NCAA Tournament play. The Huskers had an 82-match winning streak at the Coliseum snapped by Texas last year.
While recreating that success at a new venue will be difficult, plans are to make the Devaney Center extra special.
Some improvements have already begun, with new seats being installed. More work will happen over the next few years. But the real work will come once the basketball teams move out.
At that point, officials plan to remove the C Section seats on the arena's south side, replacing them with skyboxes for fans and offices for the volleyball program with views of the court below as well as Memorial Stadium and the state capital.
For matches, the floor-level A Section will be redesigned, bringing fans as close to the floor as they are now.
The floor would have three practice courts, and when they're not training, the players would have their own locker room and a lounge. The weight room and athletic medicine area would be just steps away.
For fans, improvements include more bathrooms and better concession options than the Coliseum, more parking, and for many, the chance to get tickets.
Capacity for volleyball likely will be set at 7,000, but behind the flared ceiling and curtains would be another 3,000 or so seats available for special events.
"They're confident they can do it first-class," Cook said. "They convinced me that they're going to do this right."
The venue could still be used for gymnastics and wrestling meets and for games during the state basketball tournaments. Money for the renovation project was set aside by the athletic department in the event that the arena vote failed.
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