LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – A $3 million upgrade to Jim Patterson Stadium for baseball was among the items approved on Friday by the University of Louisville Athletics Association Board.
The board also approved new retention bonuses for volleyball coach Dani Busboom Kelly, who has taken the program to the Final Four the past two seasons and to the NCAA championship game last December. She’ll receive $200,000 if she stays through Dec. 31, 2025, and another $150,000 if she is here through Dec. 31, 2028.
A $7 million renovation of the basketball and lacrosse practice facility also was approved, in a meeting where the board gave its approval to a $124.1 million operating budget, the department’s largest ever.
But it’s the baseball improvements that may draw the bulk of the attention in the wake of veteran coach Dan McDonnell’s comments after the team finished a 31-24 season in which they went 10-20 in the ACC and missed the conference tournament.
McDonnell questioned the school’s commitment to the sport in comments after the final game, a subject that definitely came up during a series of meetings with athletics director Josh Heird after the season.
The improvements announced Friday will address areas of need around the 18-year-old stadium, including locker room, training room, workout areas, dugouts and overall aesthetics in the park.
The locker room renovations, funded by a 6-figure gift from an unnamed former player, likely will lead off the work.
“Obviously, we had some conversations at the end of the year,” Heird said. “And, you know, this was a disappointing year for Dan. When you look at the expectations at the beginning of the year, I would probably contend it was the most disappointing season he's had, not necessarily in wins and losses, but just from an expectation standpoint. And, you know, some of that was voiced right after they were eliminated from the postseason. So we just want to try to do some things. Once again, it's really similar to what we're doing with the Kueber Center (for basketball). How do we invest in our student athletes? How do we make sure that they have an optimal training room, and a weight room down there at the baseball facility, as opposed to having to go over to the Marshall Center, and just doing some things like that. So we're excited to get approval today, and we’re going to continue to try to seek funding to get all these things checked off the list that Dan and I've talked as priorities.”
All of the money is expected to be raised from private sources.
McDonnell was rumored to be a candidate for a couple of jobs in the Southeastern Conference, but in the end was not hired away. Heird said he doesn’t expect any of his coaches to be satisfied after any season, and McDonnell is no different.
He said COVID slowed some progress on previous plans to enhance the baseball facilities, but that he hopes the quick items included in the current proposal will be able to be completed in a decent timeframe.
A $3 million gift from Kroger in the fall of 2021 was said to be for an indoor training facility beyond the left field wall, but rising construction costs have delayed plans for that project.
Heird said his conversations with McDonnell began soon after the season ended, but that the two had talked throughout the season.
“This isn't one of those situations -- and hopefully it never gets that way with any coach that is in this athletic department -- where, you know, you meet once or twice a year. You have constant conversations and dialogue and you say, ‘Hey, how do we get better? How do we invest in our student athletes? How do we invest in our programs?’ For me, we've got 23 programs to take care of, 23 programs that are a priority. And it's my job to figure out where we want to distribute those resources. And, it's each of our head coaches’ responsibility to be tasked with saying, ‘I'm the most important thing in the athletic department.’ And that's OK. That's what we want, you know. I don't want coaches who say, ‘I really need this, but don't worry about it, we'll get to it later.’ That's the last thing I want. I want coaches that are going to challenge me and going to challenge the department. And like I said, I think dang near every head coach we have does that.”
The department also approved the hire of a new track and cross-country coach. Joe Franklin comes to Louisville after 16 years (2007-23) as the head track and field/cross country coach at the University of New Mexico, where he helped bring the program to national prominence. During his time there, he directed the Lobos to two NCAA titles in women’s cross country (2015, 2017) and a pair of national runner-up finishes in 2018 and 2022.
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