Bryant makes big upgrade
Seats for basketball fans are overhauled
SMITHFIELD – Some will contend that the basketball court inside the Chace Athletic Center on the Bryant University campus has a timeless quality about it – a throwback relic to an era long ago.
You also have a faction of the population that swears by the belief that upgrades to the Chace Center are long overdue. Specifically, they cite the presence of two endless rows of tired bleachers.
Those planning to check out Bulldog games this winter are in store for a pleasant surprise. The summer months saw the removal of the aforementioned wooden bleachers. Taking their place are two unique sets of bleachers that should translate into a far more enjoyable fan experience – the days of walking out with knots in your back are over.
“It’s something that was definitely need- ed,” said Bryant athletic director Bill Smith. “When the Chace Center is packed, it’s an incredible environment. We wanted to maintain that advantage but also update it to make the seats more comfortable.”
There is a stark contrast between the two sets of bleachers. On one side, you have padded chairbacks that fill the premium-seating quota.
There’s a stroke of good timing in play. Last week, Bryant put men’s and women’s basketball season tickets on sale.
“You can’t expect people to buy season tickets to sit in plain old bleachers,” Smith noted. “We hope to be more inviting to the community outside of Bryant University and hope that helps in developing a solid season-ticket base that’s particularly helpful when students are home for winter break.”
There are now 639 chairbacks inside the Chace Center. They are located behind the media tables. That’s where the Bryant student body used to gather. Now, the students along those who purchase a general admission ticket will be based in one of five sections of bleachers that are located in close proximity to the two team benches.
The bleachers are an ode to Bryant’s color scheme: black and gold. When the bleachers are rolled up, the Bulldog logo greets you.
“It’s a remarkable difference, especially for people have been around Bryant for a long time and were used to seeing those wooden bleachers. It now looks so much cleaner,” said Jared Grasso, Bryant’s first-year men’s basketball head coach.
For longtime Bryant athletic department personnel like Mary Burke, the improvements to the Chace Center have a night-and-day vibe accompanied by numerous pinch-me moments. Burke recently took in a Bryant women’s volleyball home game and noted the chairbacks were “really comfortable.”
“The fan experience is going to the next level. We’re excited about that,” said Burke as she prepares for her 28th season as Bryant’s women’s basketball head coach.
Before the Chace Center underwent cosmetic renovations that were officially completed in early September, the facility’s seating ca- pacity stood at 2,440 – 1,200 on each side and 40 courtside seats. Now, there’s 1,000 bleacher seats available for the student/general admission crowd. Coupled with the premium chairbacks and the 40 courtside seats, capacity at the refurbished Chace Center is right around 1,679.
The plans to modernize the Chace Center were on the drawing board long before last spring’s hire of Grasso from Iona. Now, Grasso and Burke have something to show off whenever a perspective recruiting target is on a visit.
“You have to show that you’re trying to keep up and upgrade and we’re now able to tangibly show that. You have something you can sell,” Grasso said.
“In this day and age, it’s important to have elite facilities to get players and compete against other schools that also have good academics and successful programs,” Burke said. “Something like this definitely shows the commitment from Bryant is there. Something like this brings basketball to the forefront and gives you a top-notch facility to promote.”
Besides the long overdue overhaul of the Chace Center’s seating structure, the Bryant men’s and women’s basketball programs were also the recipients of behind- the-scenes augmentations. The locker rooms were refurbished and now include a team room to either hang out or study. Both teams will share a newly-created video room.
“All these resources that are being poured in will allow our programs to be in a position to be successful,” Burke said.
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RIM RATTLERS: Grasso is a big proponent of analytics. His wish to add a staff member whose specific responsibility would be handle the analytical side was heeded when Bryant over the summer hired Luke St. Lifer as the Bulldogs’ Director of Basketball Analytics. St. Lifer graduated from Division II Florida Southern this past spring. He spent the past three seasons on the Mocs’ roster as a walk-on. “He wants to get into coaching and took a liking to the analytical side. He wants to grow with that piece,” Grasso said. “It ended up being a perfect match.” … The Bulldogs recently received a verbal commitment from 2019 point guard Michael Green. Listed at 5-foot-10, Green is viewed as a tough, lightning quick New York City kid from the New York Gauchos AAU program. Bryant now has two scholarships available for next year’s class. … Ryan Layman from nearby Wrentham, Mass. left the Bryant program over the summer and transferred to College of Central Florida, a junior college. As a freshman last season, Layman appeared in 30 games for Bryant and averaged 2.7 points in 14.3 minutes. … The Bulldogs have secret scrimmages lined up where they’ll head to Army with Manhattan coming to Smithfield. Bryant opens the regular season on Tuesday, Nov. 6 at URI. … Bryant’s version of Late-Night Madness will take place on Thursday, October 25.