Last week, the Stephen F. Austin State University Board of Regents approved three separate titles to be bestowed upon specific areas of the addition to the William R. Johnson Coliseum, which is currently under construction.
“What a historic day for SFA Athletics and our basketball programs”, said SFA Director of Athletics Ryan Ivey. “The generosity of these three donors allows us to move closer to our vision of becoming the leading mid-major athletics department in the nation, while being able to provide a first-class experience for our student-athletes. This project and these gifts are transformational for us, and only mark the beginning. The future is definitely bright for SFA Athletics, in large part because of our great supporters.”
The basketball performance center will be named as the Loddie Naymola Basketball Performance Center in honor of Walter E. “Loddie” Naymola, Jr. of Houston, Texas. Naymola is a former Lumberjack basketball player and 1978 graduate of SFA with a degree in finance. The Loddie Naymola Performance Center will consist of a 42,000 square foot building on the northeast corner of the William R. Johnson Coliseum, and will house the offices, weight room, locker rooms, training room and practice courts for the SFA basketball teams:
Inside the Naymola Basketball Performance Center, the office of the men’s head basketball coach will be named the Bob Sitton Office for the Men’s Head Basketball Coach in honor of Bob Sitton. Sitton is a Cushing, Texas native and 1960 graduate of SFA with a degree in health and physical education. Sitton served as the director of the SFA Alumni Association from 1972 through 1998 and has continued to be an avid SFA sports fan and SFA ambassador. The gift which made the naming possible was provided by Ron Kesterson (’76).
The third space to be named in the Naymola Basketball Performance Center will be the weight room, which will henceforth be known as the Hank and Suzy Crouse Weight Room, in honor of Hank and Suzy Crouse. The Crouses have lived in Nacogdoches for more than 43 years, during which they have faithfully served SFA with distinction and honor as dedicated friends.
Representing the continued support from SFA donors, these three gifts represent two of the three largest gifts ever given to the SFA Athletics department.
“This Basketball Performance Center is a game changer for the student athletes and our program”, said men’s basketball head coach Kyle Keller. “To become self-contained in our own facility and have the opportunity to practice at the proper times will really enhance the program overall. We will benefit immediately within our current roster and in the future from a competitive recruiting standpoint. This will be a state-of-the-art facility, and we are so grateful for the commitment our administration and Board of Regents continue to make to athletics at SFA, which is another reason why Stephen F. Austin is so special.”
“The addition of the new basketball performance center will certainly enhance the overall student-athlete experience at SFA”, said women’s head basketball coach Mark Kellogg. “The new space will provide our players with access to the locker room, lounge area, film room, weight room and the practice court all under one roof. We are appreciative of the continual support of our donors and we look forward to the new basketball performance center and the positive impact it will have on our basketball program.”
