The long-awaited UTSA Basketball and Volleyball Training Center is open for business. – Photo by Joe Alexander
By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
When Dr. Taylor Eighmy visited the site of the new $35 million UTSA Basketball and Volleyball Training Center on the west end of campus Tuesday afternoon, he was concerned.
No way, the school president exclaimed, that it’s going to be ready with less than 24 hours remaining before the grand-opening ceremony.
Eighmy was happy to learn Wednesday morning that he underestimated the diligence of the work crews and the staff.
“If you go inside,” Eighmy told a crowd of supporters, “it is totally ready. So congrats to everybody that stayed up all night.”
The training center has been in the works for years.
One former student-athlete who arrived at UTSA in 2021 said she heard about the project when she was being recruited.
The promise of a new facility heightened with a groundbreaking ceremony in April of 2025.
Now it’s complete.
It’s the third major construction project that’s opened under the watch of UTSA’s athletic director, Dr. Lisa Campos.
The $40 million Roadrunner Athletics Center of Excellence debuted in 2021, followed by the $8 million Park West Fieldhouse in 2023.
In remarks to a crowd of supporters outside the new basketball-volleyball center, Eighmy thanked donors who have supported the project and also officials from the City of San Antonio and Bexar County for their help in financing the facilities.
“What I want to say to all of our friends who care about the future,” he said, “is that this is just a step in our journey towards greatness.”
Eighmy said the school “still has lots to do” on the facilities front in its drive to stay competitive.
“Next, I’m prepared to say to you all that we’ll be investing $20 million in our baseball and a little bit in our softball facilities,” he said.
Eighmy said the school hopes to break ground on the new baseball project in December.
The president said the school “has work to do” on the Convocation Center, the competition site for UTSA basketball.
The building opened in 1975 and has been the home of Roadrunners men’s and women’s basketball since 1981 and for volleyball since 1983.
“We have work to do on making sure the Alamodome is our place to play (for football) for a long time,” he said, “and that that gets upgraded. (We need) to continue to work with the city in that space.”
The Roadrunners have played football in the city-owned Alamodome since the 2011 inaugural season.
UTSA center Idara Udo gets a hug from school president Dr. Taylor Eighmy at the grand opening of the UTSA Basketball and Volleyball Training Center. – Photo by Joe Alexander
Officials gather for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the UTSA Basketball and Volleyball Training Center. – Photo by Joe Alexander
Second-floor conference rooms overlook a pair of courts at UTSA’s newest athletic facility. – Photo by Joe Alexander
Inside the new facility at UTSA for the grand opening of the UTSA Basketball and Volleyball Training Center. – Photo by Joe Alexander
Inside the new facility at UTSA for the grand opening of the UTSA Basketball and Volleyball Training Center. – Photo by Joe Alexander
Boosters and media take to the floor during grand opening. Both practice courts are equipped with eight basketball goals, three on each side of the court and one at each end. – Photo by Joe Alexander
Inside the new facility at UTSA for the grand opening of the UTSA Basketball and Volleyball Training Center. – Photo by Joe Alexander
UTSA president Dr. Taylor Eighmy addresses a gathering of supporters, staff and fans Wednesday morning. – Photo by Joe Alexander
Inside the new facility at UTSA for the grand opening of the UTSA Basketball and Volleyball Training Center. – Photo by Joe Alexander
Dr. Lisa Campos, UTSA vice president and athletic director, speaks to the crowd of supporters . – Photo by Joe Alexander