New facility named in honor of Aggie legend
The Utah State women’s volleyball team has found a new home at Kirby Court in the newly finished Wayne Estes Center. The building will serve as a competition facility for volleyball as well as practice space for both men’s and women’s basketball.
A grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony was held for the facility on Wednesday May 14. The general public was invited to come walk around the 32,000 square foot, 9.7 million dollar facility.
“Some of our student-athletes viewed this facility just the other day and were absolutely blown away,” said USU Vice President and Director of Athletics Scott Barnes the day of the grand opening. “What sets this facility apart is its functionality as both a first-class basketball practice and elite volleyball competition venue
The facility includes two regulation sized basketball courts, a regulation volleyball court, and seating for 1,400 fans. Office spaces for volleyball and men’s and women’s basketball coaching staffs are also located in the building.
The Center was named for Wayne Estes, who played for USU from 1963 to 1965. Estes was an All-American and still holds the spot of third-leading scorer in school history with 2,001 points.
Estes played his final game as an Aggie on Feb. 8, 1965 in the Nelson Fieldhouse. He reached the 2,000 point mark during the game when he scored the final basket of the game, giving him 2,001 career points.
Following the game Estes and his friends stopped when they came across a car accident. While walking back to the car the 6 foot 6 inch tall basketball player brushed a downed powerline and was fatally electrocuted.
The lobby of the building includes a visual tribute to Estes complete with stats, pictures and an interactive video board where visitors can learn more about his story.
“It is very rare that a building is named after an undergraduate, but Wayne was a very rare and special individual,” said Jim Laub, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cache Valley Electric at the grand opening. “In today’s culture you often read athletes quoted as saying, ‘I am not a role model.’ In my opinion, these athletes are dead wrong. Any recognizable athlete is a role model and it is up to each individual to determine if they are a good or a negative role model. Wayne Estes epitomizes what a positive role model is.”
Finkbeiner said the coaches and people involved with the project want the story of Wayne Estes to remain an underlying theme in everything they accomplish there.
“The story of Wayne Estes has to underline it,” Finkbeiner said. “What it means to all of those coaches and what that young man did years ago in his life. It’s just a really special workplace for us because of the name Estes and what’s come along with it.”
Previous to the Wayne Estes Center being built, Utah State volleyball played their matches and held practices in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum along with both basketball teams which provided a challenge for scheduling.
“It’s been a logistical nightmare the last two years that I’ve been here with especially preseason practice time of just lack of floor space in August and September when you have volleyball team, men’s basketball and women’s basketball all relying on one premium court in the Spectrum,” said Jerry Finkbeiner, head coach of the women’s basketball team. “Now that we have the Estes Center we can rotate around through all three programs and always have a practice sight that’s within reach of just walking out of our office or walking out of the locker room.”
In past years the teams have practiced in the Health Physical Education and Recreation building, or HPER, as well of local high school gyms and LDS church buildings. The teams will rotate practice spaces this year between the Wayne Estes Center and the Spectrum.
“It’s still the same number of teams, it’s still three teams and two gyms we just don’t have to use the PE facility anymore,” said Grayson DuBose, head volleyball coach at USU. “So the convenience of being able to have this here has really alleviated a lot of stress.”
The athletes who will utilize the facility are also excited about the convenience it will provide.
“No longer will we have to start our winter practices in the film room in the Spectrum and walk over to the HPER,” said sophomore men’s basketball player Jalen Moore at the grand opening. “We can just walk right into this new building and get our practice going. All student-athletes who will be using this building will benefit from it being here. This will help us get the extra work we need to improve our individual skills to help us succeed.”
Finkbeiner said having the Wayne Estes Center on campus also increases the value of the school on a recruiting stage.
“We have another place that athletes can practice and we have a place that we can show in our recruiting world that if you come to Utah State you have state-of-the-art facility and a practice site.” Finkbeiner said. “It’s a place that stacks up very well with everyone that we play against and recruit against.
Finkbeiner also said having individual offices has helped with recruiting and running the day-to-day parts of the job.
“Our work capacity has doubled, tripled as far as what we can put out now with the technology here, with office space, with privacy for recruiting phone calls, desk space,” Finkbeiner said. “That’s been the biggest difference with our coaching staff, has been the ability to get work done and not be interrupted.”