$15 million Dorm for the Basketball Team at NC State

Exhibit A on Why Higher Education in America is Dropping in Quality and Rising in Costs

American universities are still the elite institutions of higher learning in the world.  How much longer they will be is questionable.  And rising costs are limiting a good college education to the wealthy and to those willing to become indentured servants to pay for the costs.

One problem, not THE PROBLEM (which is inefficient operations) is the emphasis on college sports.  The football and basketball teams at large American schools are professional in all but their names.  And they consume a lot of money that could go to promoting the things colleges are supposed to do, you know like educating the students.

NC State is a pretty good school that aspires, with no real success, to match UNC and Duke in basketball prowess.  No not in education, in B Ball.  So of course they need luxury housing for their teams.

The dorm will house 15 men’s basketball players, 15 women’s basketball players and 35 other students, including a resident director and resident assistants. The dorm could help the school with basketball recruiting.

 Why the other 35 students?  Because the NCAA wants to maintain the myth that these facilities are for the college, not for the elite hoopsters.  Besides the people who take classes for the players, the people who write term papers for the players, the people who try and make the players have at least a C average need a place to stay.

So what does $15 million get you at NC State?

The dorm will be between Reynolds Coliseum and the coliseum’s parking deck. It is expected to have a theater room, a lounge and an outdoor courtyard with a basketball goal.

But it probably won’t work to get recruits, as other schools have upped their game (no pun intended).

Other universities have put up similar high-end facilities geared toward athletes. The University of Kansas built a 38-student apartment complex for men’s basketball scholarship players and other students in 2014. The building includes media rooms, a half-court basketball court, a lounge and a barbershop.

The University of Kentucky built an $8 million dorm, Wildcat Coal Lodge, in 2012. It houses 32 male students, including the men’s basketball team, and has personal chefs, a game room and a dining hall.

 Yes, the dorm is being built with private money, but operating costs will surely be coming out of the NC State budget, a budget that has seen dramatic decreases in state funding over the years.  But not to worry, no one wants scholarship basketball players to have to live in the same facilities as the other students,  you know, the future teachers, engineers, health care workers, and the rest of the lesser careers.