Tom Golisano Field House Transformation Elevates Ave Maria Athletics to Greater Success

ABOVE: AMU Founder Tom Monaghan (left), Field House benefactor Tom Golisano and AMU President Mark Middendorf cut the ribbon. RIGHT: AMU Associate Athletic Director Wil Hampton is joined by former educators Ginny Baxter (left) and her sister Lois Pence who contributed to build the Field House concession stand in honor of their grandfather, Sante Leonardi. SANDRA YEYATI / AVE MARIA SUN

A new era recently dawned for Ave Maria University (AMU) Athletics when the gleaming, positively sparkling renovated Tom Golisano Field House opened.

It has more of everything. More room. More seating. More weight rooms. More office spaces. More sparkle and intangibles.

Ave Maria athletic director Joe Patterson believes the upgrades to the 40,000-square foot facility are going to propel the Gyrenes to greater heights.

“I think it goes back to the idea of energy and momentum,” said Patterson, who is also head football coach and a university vice president. “It’s just a sense that we achieve much more having the facilities in place.”

Women’s basketball coach Alex Moorehead summed up the significance of the renovated field house.

“We just feel like we’re back at home,” Moorehead said.

Patterson echoed Moorehead when he said, “This feels like home.”

The Gryrenes had been without such a home for 1,400 days, by Patterson’s count. Patterson pointed out for Ave Maria senior basketball and volleyball players in four years they never played a home game or match in the field house.

Now, the men’s and women’s basketball teams and the volleyball team have a facility to call their own.

“It means everything to us,” volleyball coach Teigan McCormick said.

The new Tom Golisano Field House is important to all 23 of Ave Maria University’s sport teams, even those who play outdoors such as the baseball and football teams.

“The weight room obviously satisfies the need for all 23 of our sports teams,” Patterson said. “That is a big improvement over what we had.”

Patterson doesn’t know the precise square footage of the old weight room but knows the new one is bigger and offers more power racks.

Teams are now able to schedule practices at more convenient times. Previously, when using the nearby Donahue gym, practices scheduled there had to be juggled with other users of the facilities. That meant both basketball teams found themselves practicing either very early in the morning or late at night at the Donahue gym, which is owned by the Diocese of Venice.

Father Joseph offers the benediction with AMU Founder Tom Monaghan (left), Field House benefactor Tom Golisano and AMU President Mark Middendorf in the background.

The wait for the new home was long but it was worth it for AMU athletes and coaches.

Basketball player Miles Monchecourt certainly recalls seeing the finished field house for the first time.

“It was unreal,” he said. “Just being able to play in there is such an amazing experience.”

The facility was jumping with a fired-up home crowd for the first games back.

“It was a great atmosphere to be a Gyrene!” he exclaimed.

Improved facilities can help recruit future Gyrenes.

“Oh, my goodness. For recruiting, facilities are a huge deal,” men’s basketball coach Jamon Copeland said.

News of the upgraded field house is being spread around the country and beyond as Gyrenes tell family and friends and coaches in hometowns about where they now play and practice.

Not one male basketball player is from Florida. Monchecourt is from Rochester, New York. He has told people back home not only about the university but about the facility.

“It is super special to have access to a facility like this,” he said.

The men’s basketball roster has players from 10 states.

The women’s basketball team has seven Floridians but also features players from New York, Ohio and Spain.

The volleyball team roster lists five Floridians but also players from Portugal, Brazil and Canada.

Sophomore volleyball player Abbey Grose is from Brighton, Mich. and is helping spread the word about the new field house.

“I have past teammates that are younger than me,” Grose said. “I’m trying to get them to come here and play.”

The new and improved field house should help.

“A big selling point for sure,” Grose said.

The overhaul was designed by BSSW Architects and includes a sound-proof curtain between courts, a new roof, and HVAC system and plumbing.

That’s all in addition to the upgrades for the teams.

“It is more functional for a collegiate athletic department,” Copeland said.

Some of that athletic functionality is in the expanded weight room.

“We’re in there at least three or four days a week trying to get better,” Monchecourt said.

Now, teams don’t have to practice very early or very late in a facility shared by a neighboring school. They have regular practice times. They have nice locker rooms and weights rooms and places to study game film and plan strategy.

“One- stop shopping,” Copeland said.

Moorehead also appreciates those benefits.

He said it is “great logistically.”

It means having the ability for players to pop into the field house and work on their game on their own if they like.

“It’s been a blessing,” Moorehead said.

One of the blessings may be a byproduct of the tangible elements of more weight racks and more convenient practice times. Sophomore basketball player Casey Humphrey suggested camaraderie could be enhanced.,

“Just having the environment of our space brings us together,” said Humphrey, a juror guard from Columbus, Ohio.

She recalled the sensation of walking into the field house for the first game there.

“It was nerve-wracking but exciting,” Humphrey said.

Athletes and coaches all appreciated the access to Donahue and the hospitality they were shown but it was not their home.

“You’re always feeling like you’re invading somebody else’s space,” Moorehead said.

The new field house is a treat for Patterson and the 600 student/athletes in a university with an enrollment of 1,200. About 100 athletes play football.

He was named athletic director in May of 2020.

“I had never had a field house,” Patterson said.

Now, he does.

Patterson said the previous athletic director resigned the day after the old field house was condemned.

While the renovation work continued the school’s sports teams persevered. Patterson appreciates how athletes coped.

“Seeing what the athletes have done in the pursuit of excellence over the last four years has just been remarkable,” Patterson said.

He said he never heard a coach or athlete complain.

“They never stopped pursuing excellence,” Patterson said.

Patterson then used a word beyond remarkable.

“To see the steps the teams have made the last four years,” Patterson said, “has just been inspiring.”

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