Tarleton’s EECU Center is a game changer

BY ANDREW UTTERBACK

News Editor/Podcast Producer

Tarleton State University’s EECU Center opened just last year and has already opened doors for numerous event opportunities.

Wisdom Gym, Tarleton’s 56-year-old gym named after Tarleton legend Coach William J. Wisdom, served as the home for both Tarleton basketball and many student events. While this stadium served as a remarkable piece of the school’s history, Tarleton’s push to Division 1 Athletics paired with its student body growth demanded something more.

The EECU Center answered the call, providing Tarleton with 148,000 square feet of space for everything from games to concerts. Since it opened in the fall, the center has been home to numerous sporting events, as well as concerts from big-name artists like Hudson Westbrook and Koe Wetzel.

These are events that just would not have been possible to pull off in Wisdom Gym, which is a realization that Tarleton had around the time they made the jump to D1.

Chris Goodman is the Operations and Conversions Manager of the EECU Center. He said the new center has drastically improved the gameday environment.

The center has a jumbotron in the center which enables not only a clear view of the action on the court, but also a host of fun, fan-interactive games that can be played throughout the game. These fall along the lines of what you’d see in any other big stadium (noise meter, dance cam, etc.) and remind fans of the football environment just a minute walk north at Memorial Stadium.

In addition, the center has a state-of-the-art sound system, even more screens around the bowl and five concession stands for the hungry fans.

“The experience of the intercom system, the center hung screens, the live feed, the smile cams, halftime and time out games…” are what Goodman says makes the center a significant improvement for fans.

Fans at the military appreciation basketball game were even treated to free koozies falling from above, as they were dropped from the center’s catwalk.

The EECU Center’s advancements are clearly seen on gameday, but the players take advantage of numerous behind-the-scenes improvements throughout the week.

“We have a really nice hydrotherapy room with a cold pool, hot pool and a treadmill pool in it,” Goodman said. “Our locker rooms also have Longhorn lockers in them, shoe organizers and personal effect lockers in them, as well.”

The center also offers a sports medicine suite and nutrition center for players to take advantage of. When it’s time to practice, the team meets in a room dedicated to reviewing games.

“Our video replay rooms have 50 chairs in them with projector screens so they can go back and look at all their plays and see how they can better strike at opportunities,” Goodman said.

All of these player upgrades are state-of-the-art; the Longhorn lockers are actually the same types of lockers found in some NFL locker rooms.

Goodman said one of the most helpful upgrades that the EECU Center bought was the removable basketball court floor.

“Right now we have the basketball floor out, which is approximately 27 pallets, weighing approximately 3,000 pounds apiece. It all kind of goes together like Connect 4, and we get to use our student staff to help install that floor,” Goodman said. “When a large artist comes in, we'll strike the floor, store it and we'll bring out a 40-by-60 foot stage with staircases, and do the conversion part of [the center], like rolling the bleachers in and out.”

Goodman hopes more of these events will come to Stephenville, and says the EECU Center has been the key.

“This building has an astronomical amount of opportunity, both in and out of the sports realm,” he said.

Tarleton students and Stephenville residents can look forward to more big names coming to The Cowboy Capital, as comedian Bert Kreischer takes the stage on May 16 and country music artist Parker McCollum performs on Sept. 24.