The University of Maryland is seriously considering converting Cole Field House – the Terps' basketball home until the 2002-03 season – into a facility that could host indoor football practices and other activities, according to multiple sources.
The not-yet-final details would need to be approved by the Board of Regents, who have not yet been briefed. No announcement is expected until later in the month, and university officials said Friday it would be premature to comment.
The idea would be to repurpose Cole while preserving some of its history. Maryland’s basketball teams moved to Comcast Center, now Xfinity Center, after the 2001-02 season.
Former men’s basketball coach Gary Williams alluded to the possibility of Cole’s conversion after taking on a new fundraising role in September.
“If we go there, it keeps it in athletics as long as it's called Cole Field House,” Williams said at the time. “People know Cole Field House — people who've been a part of basketball, not just Maryland basketball. Right now, nobody has heard much of Cole since we moved out to Comcast Center [in 2002]. That would bring Cole back into the mix.”
Last season, Maryland Madness – a continuation of the Midnight Madness event started by former Terps coach Lefty Driesell in 1971 – was held at Cole.
Maryland’s men’s basketball team had a record of 486-151 at Cole. Its big wins included a victory over No. 1 Notre Dame on Super Bowl Sunday of 1979.
The Cole makeover is being considered as part of a plan to upgrade athletic facilities that could have implications for the College Park campus. It’s possible the project could expand beyond Cole’s footprint.
Maryland graduate Kevin Plank, the CEO of Under Armour – the school’s official athletic outfitter – is expected to be a supporter of the project but would be far from the only one.
University president Wallace D. Loh said last year that Maryland would not want to lag behind other Big Ten schools.
"All the Big Ten institutions have indoor facilities -- of course, obviously because of the weather. But we need it, too,” Loh said. “I think that's what it's going to take to recruit even better student-athletes, not just for football, but for other teams as well."