The new 70,000-square-foot facility will include a new basketball arena for the school's men's and women's teams, as well as office space, locker rooms, concessions and ancillary spaces.
Officials say the Detroit Pistons' NBA G League team, currently the Grand Rapids Drive, will play its home at the new facility, located at the corner of Warren and Trumbull Avenues. It remains unclear whether the Drive franchise will make the move to Detroit or the Pistons will be required to create an expansion team.
HAPPENING NOW... @waynestate Board of Governors have formally approved construction of a new $25-Million basketball arena for the men's and women's teams, to be completed by 2021. The @DetroitPistons will also bring in an NBA G League team to play in the arena. Updates @WWJ950 pic.twitter.com/94drtieyCp
— Jon Hewett (@JonHewettWWJ)
May 1, 2019 #Pistons Arn Tellem on Drive/expansion team: "We’re in discussions right now and I don’t know. We have a commitment that we can get an expansion team, and it may be an expansion team. We’ll see how our discussions are resolved as we talk with the NBA and the Grand Rapids team."
— Rod Beard (@detnewsRodBeard)
May 1, 2019 Wayne State's men's and women's teams have played at the Matthaei Center for more than 50 years. The new arena, which has not yet been named, will have a capacity more than double the Matthaei Center's 1,131. Officials say the Matthaei Center will remain open for intramural sports programs and also offer scheduling flexibility for the school's teams.
WSU competes at the NCAA Division II level and the new facility is seen as a way to place the program "in a stronger position within the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference," according to a press release from the university. The men's team last made the D-II NCAA Tournament in 2013, while the women's team made it to the second round in 2015.
