Georgia Southern athletics department experiencing 'transformative' period in 2022

STATESBORO — Georgia Southern University's two major construction projects for athletics are years in the making.

The Anthony P. Tippins Family Indoor Practice Facility, to be built at a cost of $12.3 million, is scheduled for completion early next year.

The Jack and Ruth Ann Hill Convocation Center, to be the new home for the Eagles women's and men's basketball programs as well as for academic purposes, is estimated at a total project cost of $64.4 million, including just over $50 million for construction. The facility is targeted for a spring 2024 opening.

On the other hand, another milestone in GS athletics had a much shorter turnaround — seven days — from start to finish. Earlier this month, Georgia Southern hosted an NCAA regional tournament for the first time in its long baseball history.

The athletics department learned Statesboro was a host site at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 29, while officials were driving back from the Sun Belt Conference tournament in Montgomery, Alabama.

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J.I. Clements Stadium was primed and ready to host the first games that Friday for a tournament that ran June 3-5.

"For us, we get one shot at this," Georgia Southern Director of Athletics Jared Benko said on the Statesboro Regional's opening day. "It's the first time we've had it in the history of our university. We tried to pull out all of the stops.

"At the end of the day, we all have a healthy chip on our shoulder to try to show Georgia Southern in a profile as a school on the rise — not just athletics but as a university. We try to do the best we can to show people we're deserving of this bid and, ultimately, we're going to put our best foot forward."

The athletic department had submitted in advance a bid to be one of 16 host schools in the country. J.I. Clements Stadium isn't new, but it was to the NCAA selection committee as a potentional host site, so all of the specifications and amenities had to be detailed.

GS needed plans for ticketing, marketing and parking as well as logistics in Statesboro for accommodating visiting teams and fans for lodging, restaurants and more, said Chris Davis, Georgia Southern Deputy Athletics Director.

The schedule for rebuilding the pitcher's mound after the season was accelerated to the days before the arrival of visiting squads from Texas Tech, UNC Greensboro and the eventual regional winner, Notre Dame.

The stadium's existing amenities were bolstered by extra restrooms, a misting station to beat the heat, an NCAA merchandise stand and an extended concourse on the third-base side.

Local vendors provided food trucks on site to complement the concession stands and more efficiently feed the expected increase in spectators — and there were crowds.

Whether fans came from the Statesboro community, Eagle Nation or supporters of the other three teams, tickets sold out for the regional (one ticket for all games). The 3,100 total for reserved seating, hillside seating and standing-room-only included patrons paying $90 for chairback seats and $50 for non-chairback seats.

That level of support would reflect positively on GS in the eyes of the NCAA and those viewers watching the three Georgia Southern games streamed on ESPN+.

"Part of raising the profile of Georgia Southern as a national brand is being on a national stage. This is a great oppportunity," Davis said. "An entire university ecosystem banded together to make the grounds, to make the stadium, to make everything look exceptional. That's one thing to be extremely proud of."

Benko, who was photographed using a paint roller as the stadium got a fresh coat and landscaping improvements in prepping for the big event, said it truly took a village.

"Everybody understands how big this is," Benko said. "Everybody understands how important this regional is. You have a heightened level of awareness and really a heightened level of efficiency to get things done. Everyone really came through."

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The regional was important on several levels, regardless of the outcome. While the aforementioned multimillion-dollar construction projects have been labeled "transformative" by Benko and others at the university, bringing an NCAA playoff round for three days in Statesboro provided short-term and potential future benefits as a showcase for Eagles baseball, Georgia Southern and the surrounding community.

"It's hard to quantify that type of (free) advertising," Benko said.

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The Eagles qualified for the NCAA postseason for the 14th time, and first since 2014. Playing at home was a reward for their then-record of 40-18, including 23-7 in the Sun Belt.

With wins over other nationally ranked teams while playing a challenging schedule, the 16th-seeded Eagles relished home-field advantage for the first time.

"Our student-athletes, coaches and staff deserve it. They played their butts off this year and had a great season," Benko said.

Eagles fans were given a new opportunity to see the team at home in a playoff atmosphere, and they boosted the energy level, particulary when the team faced the Fighting Irish in the winners' bracket on the night of June 4.

Though Notre Dame won 6-4, Irish players took notice of the electricity in the most-watched baseball game (3,533 spectators) in the stadium's history.

"It's just a great crowd to play in front of," Notre Dame third baseman Jack Brannigan said. "When you're playing an intense game like that, it just makes it that much more fun."

Irish shortstop Zack Prajzner said he heard about the passionate Eagles fans through Twitter.

"It definitely lived up to it," Prajzner said. "It definitely created a great atmosphere for a great game."

While the economic impact was a bonus for the outlying area, Benko explained that Georgia Southern wasn't expecting a financial windfall from the tournament based on the math. The host school gets to keep up to 15% of revenues (primarily ticket sales) after expenses, meaning the NCAA will pocket at least 85% of the net difference.

Determining which schools will host regionals

While many schools have often hosted regionals, selection was based on determining the best 16 teams, not about those programs with the biggest budgets who could make the highest bids, Benko said.

"If that was the case, you could have the SEC host all of it," he said.

Benko does reference the SEC when he talks about mimicking the Power Five conference model in terms of making all of a university's sports teams good, upgrading facilities and improving the college experience for student-athletes. He credits the alignment from the top of the university on down, beginning with Georgia Southern University President Kyle Marrero.

Chris Davis said: "When you have really good people who are aligned properly, and your brand is really strong, that's scary. What makes the college brand at Georgia Southern is the traditions, the fan base."

They also credit support from the fan base — alumni, donors, the Athletic Foundation — whose philanthropy helps fund these and other projects.

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Last year, the athletics department produced "Soaring to New Heights: The Strategic Plan for Georgia Southern Athletics 2021-26." Six months in the making, the plan came together through input from student-athletes, coaches, staff, faculty and Athletic Foundation board members.

Included are guiding principles for GS athletics, and a vision statement to be "the premier department in the Sun Belt Conference and elite within the Group of Five."

"Our job is to put out a vision, at times be a rudder for the ship influencing the right direction toward our north star," Benko said. "At the end of the day, this place's best days are still ahead of it.

"There's no secret sauce. You're only as good as the people around you," he continued. "We have great people. Look at the profiles of everyone in our programs. They're on the rise. We're a growth stock. I would encourage people to hop on board because the next several years are going to be a lot of fun."

Nathan Dominitz is the Sports Content Editor of the Savannah Morning News and savannahnow.com. Email him at ndominitz@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @NathanDominitz

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Georgia Southern Eagles athletics baseball program boost from regional