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Alumnus gives $20 million to help finance practice facility

Michael Harris
Senior Sports Editor

Oklahoma State’s Athletic Village took one step closer to reality Thursday morning when OSU athletic director Mike Holder announced alumnus Sherman Smith’s $20 million gift to the university.

Earmarked specifically for a state-of-the-art indoor practice facility, the multi-sport training center will bear Smith’s name, Holder said.

“Today is about a large gift, but it’s about much, much more than that,â€Â

about time there was an indoor facility in northern Oklahoma. What does that make for the state? 3 total.

Course the university will probably be all stingy about letting highschool or unattached use it.

Yeah! I live in Oklahoma and have a friend who hurddles for OSU... I have seen some preliminary schetches and this is suppose to be a full 400M track indoor... I don't know the purpose of that since indoor uses a 200...

Even the few track athletes there know the facility will be a primary indoor practice field for football. But If OSU can ever get the track program to full steam, there will be one awesome facility to train in all year round!

Would love to see the possibility of having high school athletes in the area get a chance to vault and train indoors. With NCAA regulations regarding contact with HS athletes, I wonder how this could done? Any ideas? I know some hold weekly clinics with a fee - others...? I'm coaching just 45 miles north with no indoor facilities...

Maybe the state will up the restriction of three HS indoor meets if we had more indoor facilities available.

Will be interesting to see who ends up on the staff at OSU - will there be a jumps/vault coach there to go along with the facilities? Tim McMichaels, Joe Dial, any others interested? OSU must have more than one head T&F and one assistant as their web site shows... anyone know who is on the current staff.

How soon will it be available?

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