Official signage outside the future site of the Womble Basketball Center.
By Donovan Young
Construction on the Dustin R. Womble Basketball Center is underway and expected to wrap up sometime in 2020. Despite private funding being used to finance the facility’s construction, some still question how the building was prioritized.
Dustin Womble, Texas Tech alumnus and founder of Incode, Inc., gave a large sum of money in order for Texas Tech to build the facility, Mike Ryan, senior associate athletic director for Tech, said.
“It gives our men and women a home twenty-four-seven, three-hundred-sixty-five days a year,” Ryan said. “Both of our programs will be able to train, practice and prepare in the Womble year-round.”
Additional private donations were gathered for the facility’s implementation, he said. The Womble Basketball Center was in no way paid for using tuition funds from Tech students.
Some students, like Destiny Victor, a sophomore Spanish major from Houston, Texas, still question how this move portrays the university’s values in the wake of rising tuition costs.
“Higher education is not really valued,” Victor said. “‘Why would I pay thousands of dollars just to get this degree when in other colleges it’s cheaper?’”
Tech is one of the last schools in the Big 12 conference that does not have a dedicated practice facility, so they must play catch-up, Ryan said.
United Supermarkets Arena is located just across the street from the Womble Center’s future site.
“A lot of times we can’t practice and can’t get shots up due to graduation and concerts and other events,” he said. “With specialization of sports and the incremental advantage of being able to have a player come in and want to get better, it has to be all the time.”
Sam Miller, a junior creative media industries major from Azle, Texas, contests that Tech does not need a new basketball facility at all.
“I don’t believe we need a new facility,” Miller said. “It doesn’t make sense for us to get a new facility for them when the facility we have is in good condition.”
In the face of these objections, Ryan said more than just dollars and cents goes into building a new facility like the Womble Center.
“It starts with the birth of the building,” he said. “We have the money to do it, and now we have to meet with architects to look at the layout, look at the plans, decide what we want in the building, talk to the contractor to say ‘How much is this going to cost?’”
Construction on the Womble Basketball Center is on-going and expected to be completed sometime in 2020.
As Red Raider basketball ascends into a new tier of competitiveness, so must their brand recognition, Ryan said. This process starts by creating world-class facilities that drive recruitment to the university.
“It’s (basketball facility) going to be a really nice piece for Texas Tech to show off to future recruits,” he said. “Also (for) students, to show the interest that Texas Tech has in athletics and also the commitments that have been made by donors and fans.”
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