At the end of the day, Kim Mulkey understands that a new arena for LSU women's basketball is probably going to be more about whoever succeeds her down the road at LSU than anything else.
Still, speaking this week about plans to replace the 52-year-old facility on LSU's campus, the legendary coach agrees its certainly time for an upgrade.
"I don’t know if it’s the fact that we’ve won and I’m speaking about it publicly, or just the fact that it’s — it’s time," Mulkey said. "Just walk around here, it’s time, and I don’t know that we have that much power or pull. Maybe it’s attention-grabbing, maybe it’s a little bit of that. But whatever it is, it’s needed."
The four-time national champion coach admits she hasn't been granted inside information into the process, and she learned about it through a recent article, as did most people. But she does have some questions for the process, most notably about the new style of venues that doesn't necessarily prioritize basketball over general entertainment events.
"Sounds like the new way to go is it’s not just gonna be a basketball arena, it’s going to be an entertainment type of an area," Mulkey said. "Selfishly I just want it to be a basketball arena, but I would imagine financial decisions go into that, funds and how do you pay for it and all that."
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The Pete Maravich Assembly Center sits in the shadow on Tiger Stadium on LSU's campus and was originally opened in 1972, then called the LSU Assembly Center. The buliding's current capacity currently sits at just north of 13,000.
Her only issues stems from the idea that she wants to be able to practice in the building daily, and a mixed-use arena would likely make that untenable. Still, however it's executed, the need is there. There's been no official site selected yet for future plans for the project, which is in an exploratory phase.
She also wonders about the feasibility of a "new PMAC," because the way it's being discussed sounds like there's consideration over two facilities, rather than simply replacing the old building.
"I would imagine we will be asked our opinions. But I don’t know that our opinions will override money or exactly what they’re going to do with dressing rooms and availability," Mulkey said. "I want to practice in the facility every day, and that’s my biggest concern. I want to be in there every day, and if you make it an entertainment deal, I think it’s pretty obvious you’re not going to be in there every day. That’s the biggest new wave of arenas are being built like this.”
This year's Tigers, ranked No. 9 and still angling for a repeat NCAA Tournament crown, has one more game remaining in the current PMAC on Sunday when they host Kentucky.