The Kaskaskia College Blue Devils and Blue Angels both earned victories as the new gym at Kaskaskia College was used for the first time Saturday. In fact, the Blue Devils used the opportunity to upset the number two nationally ranked Vincennes College.
The new facility impressed the crowd with electronic scoreboards, much wider areas between the bleachers and playing floor, and capacity seating growing from around 850 to 1,350. The front entrance is still not complete and will not have a formal grand opening until late March or early April.
Vice President of Student Services Amy Zanton says the new facility will be a great asset to the college.
“There’s a lot of energy here today,” Zanton said. “For our student athletes it means a great deal. We’ve got a lot of kids that are coming from high schools that have had more impressive facilities, so this gives them the opportunity to truly have a state-of-the-art space to play in. It also gives them the practice gym to have two facilities, so that we can host a little bit more. It also gives us a great opportunity to be able to host community things. In April, we’ve got our eighth grade career conference coming up and this place will be packed.”
Zanton says the new gym may be able to hold everyone who wants to attend graduation, as a secondary viewing area has been set up in the past.
Athletic Director Scott Steward thinks the gym will be a recruiting tool.
“I think when people walk in, they look at this place and say, wow, this is really beautiful,” Steward said. “A lot of things have gone into that. Putting a beautiful facility forward like this, I think, will make any athlete willing to come here and play, and I can’t imagine a kid in our area that wouldn’t like to come here and play.”
Steward says the new gym will be able to serve multiple purposes.
“We can do a lot of summer camps. We can split the gym in half and have side-by-side basketball going on, side-by-side volleyball going on. The clocks are on each end and can work independently. We have a curtain that comes down in the middle, so we can have a lot of kids on the floor at once. Not to mention, we have our other facility too that we can also use for spillover. It can be used in a lot of different ways, and we hope everyone in our community goes to appreciate this facility.”
Women’s basketball coach Perry Michael also sees the facility as a recruiting tool.
“It’s one of the nicest gyms now in all of the GRAC and the MWAC,” Michael said. “It’s the newest one built by quite a few years as far as I know. Obviously, it’s a much bigger area, a lot more seating, a lot more fans and a lot of energy in here. First game in here, it was exciting to come out here and win like this today.”
Those wanting to see the new gym are invited to stop by the college for a tour.
