Will new Arizona State athletic director be able to save the Coyotes with new arena?
Maybe now Arizona State will get a new basketball arena?
ASU has confirmed the Valley’s worst-kept secret, selecting Graham Rossini as athletic director.
Rossini takes over for Ray Anderson, who exited years ago, it seems. The job stayed vacant so long, I started to wonder whether I should apply for it, myself.
Anderson’s tenure will be known for infighting and backbiting that undermined solid plans to grow the football program into a national powerhouse, but it was much more than that.
Anderson renovated Mountain America Stadium, gave the football program a state-of-the-art weight room and training facility, built Mullett Arena, made men’s hockey into a Division I program and started a women’s team, returned Sun Devil baseball to Phoenix Municipal Stadium, and made Olympic sports into a calling card by associating with athletes such as Dan O’Brien and Michael Phelps.
He also helped grow wrestling, golf and triathlon programs into national powers during his nearly 10-year run.
Anderson didn’t, however, give the basketball teams everything they need to attract top-tier players.
And that’s where Rossini could start to distinguish himself, given his background in overseeing the design and construction of the Salt River Fields at Talking Stick baseball complex.
He needs to build a new sports arena.
No one argues whether Desert Financial Arena is out of date. The locker rooms are cramped. The scoreboard is something you’d expect to find at Walmart on Black Friday. And the lighting is so bad, students don’t even take selfies behind the Curtain of Distraction.
Part of the problem is that stadium demolition and construction takes time. The men’s and women’s teams would need to move somewhere to give the project an opportunity to be done the right way.
Mullett Arena would be a great temporary home — as long as it’s actually temporary. The Coyotes stayed so long the NHL had to evict them.
Grand Canyon University has showed the type of energy that could be harnessed in a small gym.
And the Phoenix Suns will be taking advantage of it by putting a G League team in Mullett Arena starting in November. (And no, Tom Chambers isn’t expected to coach the squad, but they could make a giant mascot out of him like the Diamondbacks do with Randy Johnson. … and, yes, those are all the mullet jokes I’ve got.)
Something else Rossini could do to distinguish himself would be to get the Coyotes back. They need a place to play, and they've only got a few years to get shovels in the ground.
The Phoenix Suns aren’t interested in helping Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo by sharing Footprint Center. Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega aren’t helping, either.
Hockey fans are suffering. If this keeps up, Murello is going to have to start a GoFundMe to try to save the team.
Rossini could become a hero in this town if he creates a partnership that could bring the Coyotes back to the Valley — and put them in a building that fans could actually get to during the week.
A new arena could solve everyone's problems, assuming Rossini can convince ASU President Michael Crow that it's a good idea.
However it goes, the job is Rossini’s now.
He’s got plenty of opportunity to distinguish himself. Here's hoping he starts with a new arena.
Reach Moore at gmoore@azcentral.com or 602-444-2236. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @SayingMoore.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: New Arizona State athletic director needs to build arena, save Coyotes
