The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Varejão partners on T3 plan
T3 Performance in Avon will move forward on an expansion that nearly will triple the size of its current facility with the help of former Cleveland Cavaliers and fan favorite Anderson Varejão.
In a Sept. 20 presentation before Avon City Council, T3 owner Mike D’Andrea detailed plans in working with The National Basketball Academy in developing programs that will drive the new facility located at 1965 Recreation Lane.
D’Andrea said Varejão, who was a power forward and center for the Cavs, is an investor on the project.
Varejão works out regularly at T3 and said it was one the key reasons he signed with the Cavs for the 2020-21 season.
In talking with D’Andrea and Steve Vega, regional director for The National Basketball Academy, Varejão said he was inspired to be a part of the project based on his basketball institute in Brazil working with youth.
“So, my case is sports,” he said. “I teach basketball.”
“I don’t know if they all to want to become basketball players, but at the end of the day, they might have become a better people.”
With T3, Varejão said there is nothing in the region that comes close to what T3 offers and said he was very happy to be a part of it and would like to bring students from Brazil to take part in tournaments.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “When you see it, I think is awesome for them, for the kids, and it’s gonna be something unique that you don’t have around here.”
T3’s current 56,000-squarefoot building would add 81,000 square feet for a total of 140,000 square feet of sports recreation space.
“It’ll be primarily focused around, basketball, volleyball and UH (University Hospitals) is going to be big tenant in there with us, kind of a partner, going into the space with the sports medicine standpoint,” D’Andrea said.
The facility will have six volleyball courts that can be converted into two high school basketball floors and University Hospitals Sports.
The UH wing will allow doctors to remain on site and provide Connor Integrative services including acupuncture and yoga.
The building will include a performance gym, cafe and a film room where participants can cut and break down video recorded during practices.
D’Andrea provided financial projections indicating the expansion would create an additional $97,000 in hotel tax revenue annually for the project with a fall 2022 opening target.
Vega, of Avon, runs what he says are the largest tournaments in Northeast Ohio.
With some tournaments topping 320 teams, the program has the potential to provide a boost to the local economy and local sports infrastructure, he said.
On any given weekend, Vega said 150 to 200 teams will show up to his programs making about 1,500 people.
“With our ability to have the right facility, the right program kind of centrally in Avon, it’ll drive a ton of traffic here,” he said.