UC breaks ground on indoor practice facility/performance center as part of Big 12 plans

After a run of nearly 11 years, the former Sheakley Athletic Center, which included the University of Cincinnati's practice football field and "The Bubble" during winter months, is no longer.

Construction has begun on the same site for UC's new practice facility that will take them into the Big 12. Tuesday, the ceremonial shovels came out for the official groundbreaking of the multi-million dollar indoor practice facility and performance center, which is scheduled to be completed in the next two years. The practice facility alone will be 84,000 square feet.

Wearing C-Paw hard hats and moving the first official dirt were transformational gift-givers Larry and Rhonda Sheakley, Phil Collins from the board of trustees, UC President Neville Pinto, UC Athletic Director John Cunningham and UC Foundation President Peter Landgren. Board members Kim Heiman and Steve Boymel were among influential donors as well as football coach Scott Satterfield, men's basketball coach Wes Miller, women's basketball coach Katrina Merriweather and volleyball coach Molly Alvey.

A Big 12 necessity

By the start of the 2024 football season, the practice field will be ready. Coach Satterfield will be a year into the Big 12 and ready to usher in the squad that's currently highly rated in the new league. Renderings of the building are the screen saver on his phone and it's the first thing he shows new recruits.

"You have to have a facility like this to get close to some of the teams in the Big 12," Satterfield said. "What it says is Cincinnati is investing for the future of football here at this university."

UC=Under Construction=success

Cunningham said the new facility is fitting for the programs UC offers.

"All 18 of our sports are going to use this facility," he said. "When you hit that corner of campus, it's going to really pop and stand out. That's how we do things at UC. Whenever you move dirt, it means that you're moving forward. I had someone tell me one time if you don't have a crane up in the air, you're dying. There's a lot of cranes up in the air around here. That means we have a lot of momentum and we're going in the right direction."

In addition, the 96,000-square-foot performance center will include offices for the football program, and feature performance nutrition stations, a dining hall, sports performance weight room, athletic training room and mental health services. The performance center will be constructed next to the indoor practice facility and will open before the 2025 football season. Cunningham said it will be used to fuel all of their athletes similar to what other Power Five/Big 12 institutions have in place.

Satterfield said it will include all resources needed to get players to the NFL. A dozen Bearcats have been drafted in the past two years with several more achieving free-agent deals. The goal is to continue that progress and then some with recruiting.

A key recruiting tool

"It enables us to be in the conversation with some of the highest-rated players in the country," he said.

The original bubble was Brian Kelly's dream, which didn't get built until Butch Jones arrived. The current structure, a wish of Luke Fickell's, "wowed" Satterfield in his interview. When he saw the new facility's renderings by Michael Schuster and Associates, he was even more motivated.

It's now the first stop in the recruiting process for future Bearcat athletes.

"When they come into my office, it's, 'Did you see the new building that we're building?'" Satterfield said. "These families know that outside of the classroom that's where they're going to be. Our guys, we want in the building. We want them to come and hang out. They're going to have a great place to hang out and watch film. It's a huge recruiting tool for us. We had to have it to compete at this national stage."

Larry and Rhonda Sheakley deliver

Other UC athletic programs will also use the new digs, which is partly funded by the gift from Larry and Rhonda Sheakley, now the largest donation in the history of Bearcat athletics.

Sheakley is a familiar face in UC athletics and can often be found on the sidelines of football games even though he has a suite at Nippert Stadium. His passion for the game takes him that close.

He previously funded the Sheakley Lawn as part of former AD Bob Goin's Varsity Village plan and then was the namesake of the Sheakley Athletic Center, which preceded this ambitious project.

"I was a Bearcat fan since I was a kid," Sheakley said. "My mom and dad were huge fans. This was a blessing to be able to do. I love college football. It (the renderings of the facility) is beautiful! I had no idea it was going to look like an opera house!"

Though his donations have been football-related. Sheakley did point out basketball coach Wes Miller in his remarks before the groundbreaking, telling him he was there for him.

His phone may ring again. Thus far, he's answered and delivered.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Bearcats break ground on indoor Big 12 practice facility