LAWRENCE, KS — The Kansas Jayhawks today granted media members an all-access look at their new football facility, The Kansas Jayhawks Football Basement and Performance Center, featuring more than $4,000 in exercise equipment and technology.
The Performance Center, housed in a partially-finished basement in an off-campus house rented by the Jayhawks’ strength and conditioning coach, features two used Bowflex machines, various free weights — including several pairs of the same 12-pound weight covered in protective, yellow rubber— three yoga mats, an exercise band, two exercise balls, a used ShakeWeight and a brand new Ab Blaster. A closet in the basement/Performance Center contains a mini-fridge stocked with Dasani water, as well as a panini maker and a big plastic barrel of hard pretzels. Rolls of paper towels from Costco sit in the corner, allowing players to dry themselves off and wipe down equipment.
“I’m really excited by this facility,” said Kansas head coach David Beaty. “We may not have what some of the SEC schools have, or what Oregon has, and football will always come second to basketball here at Kansas, but we can definitely work with this. It’s definitely better than our old workout facility, which was less a facility and more a sheet of paper we handed out to our players with directions on how to do push-ups and sit-ups in their dorm rooms.”
The facility is part of a major investment by Kansas into its athletic teams. Men’s basketball just opened a $12 million basketball dorm, with deluxe housing, a media room, game room, basketball court and barbershop. The football facility has a pair of scissors that players could use to cut their hair if they would like to.
The football basement is not a finished product, however. A hat will be passed through the crowd during Jayhawks’ home games this season soliciting donations for further upgrades. For example, the basement could use a dehumidifier because the space takes on some water after heavy rains. There is also talk of investing in a TV/DVD player combo device that would play workout DVDs.
“Our defensive coordinator says his nephew has those P90X videos,” said Beaty. “It would be great if we could borrow those.”
Beaty believes his team has already seen benefits from the new facility.
“They had to move everything in here,” he said. “Carrying those Bowflex machines down the steps was no easy task. I think they got a good workout and bonded as a team.”
