Facilities: University of Washington Athletics Director Barbara Hedges recently announced an $18 million renovation of the Conibear Shellhouse and Student-Athlete Life Center. Pending completion of $5.7 million in fund-raising, the project is to begin in December 2003 and will take 14 months to complete. To date, $12.3 million has been raised in private donations to fund the renovation.

The project will expand the current structure by 60 percent to a total of 31,000 usable square feet. The area dedicated to the Husky rowing program will improve from 11,100 square feet to 20,000 square feet. The renovation will provide the Husky crew program with new locker rooms, meeting rooms, ergometer training facilities, coaches offices and expanded shell storage. The Student-Athlete Life Center will grow from 4,600 square feet to 6,000 square feet. The dining hall will increase by 1,100 square feet to a total of 5,000 square feet. The Student-Athlete Life Center is the home for several of the athletics department's support programs. The offices for sports nutrition, sports psychology and community service, as well as Washington's athletics compliance staff, are housed in this area. "The shellhouse may be the most important project in the university's Campaign for the Student-Athlete," Hedges says. "This is a facility that will be a tremendous benefit to all of our programs in terms of support for our student-athletes, particularly in the area of academic assistance. There will be no better platform to assist us in our mission to provide comprehensive support for our student-athletes."

Milestones: Wichita State University's opening win in the Missouri Valley Conference postseason baseball tournament against Indiana State University gave head coach Gene Stephenson his 1,400th career win in Division I. Stephenson, who is in his 26th season, is only the third coach in Division I history to accomplish that feat. His record after the win against Indiana State stood at 1,400-446-3 ... Norfolk State University head baseball coach Marty Miller, who just completed his 31st year at the helm of the Spartans' baseball program, picked up his 700th career win May 8 with a 5-2 win over Delaware State University in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference baseball tournament. The Spartans won one more game in the tournament before losing to finish fourth. Miller's record after the 2003 season is 701-509-3 ... Indiana University, Bloomington, head baseball coach Bob Morgan collected his 1,000th career win earlier this season when the Hoosiers shut out the University of Illinois, Champaign, 4-0. With the victory, Morgan joined an elite group of 11 other active Division I baseball coaches and 25 others in history to achieve the milestone. He is in his 20th season as Indiana's head coach and his 28th overall as a head coach. After a 34-22 record in 2003, he sports a career record of 1,019-526-6. In his 20 seasons at Indiana, Morgan is 731-436-4, which makes him the winningest baseball coach in school history.

Miscellaneous: Michigan State University and the University of Kentucky have announced their men's basketball teams will play each other December 13 at Ford Field, home of the NFL's Detroit Lions. The event, dubbed "The BasketBowl -- Hoops On The 50" will be nationally broadcast by CBS. With an expected crowd of more than 75,000, Michigan State will look to establish a world record for basketball attendance. "This promises to be one of the signature moments in Michigan State athletics history. I see The BasketBowl as the sequel to 'The Cold War,' " said Michigan State Athletics Director Ron Mason, referring to Michigan State's men's ice hockey game against the University of Michigan at Spartan Stadium in October 2001 that attracted a record crowd for the sport. "The BasketBowl will be so much more than a basketball game played between two elite collegiate programs. The atmosphere for this event should rival any NCAA Final Four." The world basketball attendance record is 75,000 set on August 21, 1951, during a Harlem Globetrotters exhibition game played in the Berlin Olympic Stadium. The largest crowd ever to watch an NCAA basketball game was 68,112 in January 1990 when Louisiana State University defeated the University of Notre Dame in the Louisiana Superdome. Michigan State will transport its playing floor to Ford Field for the contest. The Breslin Center court will be centered on the 50-yard line and elevated about three feet on a platform. USA Basketball, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and FIBA all are planning on conducting events in conjunction with the game. In addition, both Michigan State and Kentucky will be represented by the world's largest pep bands, with more than 400 total band members. The BasketBowl also will feature musical guests and other forms of entertainment.

-- Compiled by Gary T. Brown