Maryland’s ‘Building Champions’ campaign is in full swing – here’s how it’s going

Photo Courtesy of Eddy Calkins

The University of Maryland Athletic Department’s “Building Champions” campaign, a project supporting over 500 Maryland student-athletes through new facilities, is in full swing. 

The athletic department has completed three of the nine new expected facilities – the football team’s Jones-Hill House, renovations to the multipurpose Gossett Hall and, most recently, the Field Hockey and Women’s Lacrosse Complex.

“As we all know, there’s an arms race in college athletics for facilities and so this concentrated effort, kind of, gives us a pathway to help achieve that,” said Kirby Mills, Senior Associate Athletic Director and Chief Development Officer.  “What it does is it shows the Big Ten that the investment our fans, that our university is putting into the student-athlete experience.”

The campaign was introduced in January 2020. Currently, the department is working on the Stanley Bob Baseball Player Development Center and the Softball Player Development Center. Both are expected to be completed by the end of the calendar year. 

“I’m sure it will create more of an environment where we can all get out work in and grind together and build that kind of chemistry together,” said freshman baseball utility player Chris Hacopian. 

The $149.3 million Jones-Hill House, completed in June 2021, and the expected $52 million Barry P. Gossett Basketball Performance Center – predicted to be completed by the summer of 2025 – are the two most expensive facilities in the project. 

The athletic department does not have a timetable for when construction will start for the Golf Performance Center, the soccer stadium, or the Track and Field stadium. However, Mills says he expects all nine new facilities to be completed in “a little more” than three years.

“I think we’re, kind of, at that phase of, okay, ‘we’ve got everything else going. Let’s double down and figure this one out,’” said Mills. 

Photo Courtesy of Eddy Calkins

Funding for the new facilities relies heavily on private donors and the athletic department’s revenues. Mills says they also work with the university’s administration to avoid paying as much upfront to start construction faster. 

Donors can donate to a specific facility or the campaign in general. The department also gets “unrestricted dollars” through philanthropy, according to Mills. 

“By us putting the master plan out there of what our intent was, that gave our donors to understand, kind of, the roadmap of what [the campaign] will look like,” said Mills. 

A month after revealing the campaign, the athletic department announced a commitment of at least $25 million to the non-revenue sports, doubling down on its commitment to all of Maryland’s 20 varsity team sports. Mills said they will spend no less than $25 million, but the total for all the new facilities will “hit or exceed” that amount. 

“There’s never a ‘what’s the big number gonna be?’ because we knew it was going to take years and the economy was going to evolve. Our needs were going to evolve,” said Mills. “This isn’t so much about hitting a big philanthropic number, a big revenue number, more, how can we make sure we’re touching all 20 of our sports?”

The Field Hockey and Women’s Lacrosse Complex is the most recently completed facility, unveiled in December 2023. The building is over 17,000 square feet and was estimated to cost $11 million in 2022, according to the Maryland Board of Public Works.

Photo Courtesy of Eddy Calkins

“There’s so many facility upgrades that are coming under this administration’s leadership,” said women’s lacrosse coach Cathy Reese. “And, you know, women’s lacrosse and field hockey, it’s been long needed and something that is just much appreciated.”

The teams have a combined 23 national championships, spotlighted with multiple trophy cases and halls of fame. Before the new facility, both teams shared one singular bathroom. Now, each team has its own meeting rooms, coach offices, lounges and locker rooms, all decorated with Maryland colors and branding.

“Maryland, in general, having the flags and the colors that we represent, like more than any other state, it has its own flair and just amazing aspects and little details,” said field hockey senior defender Rayne Wright. 

Teams not receiving their own facilities will still benefit from the other projects, said Mills. 

“As the Basketball Performance Center comes online, we assume that the programs housed here [volleyball and wrestling] will also be able to benefit from the spaces that the men’s and women’s basketball teams currently occupy,” said Mills.