Photo gallery: Sneak peak of the new UA basketball locker room

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Photos of the newly renovated University of Arizona men's basketball locker room at the McKale Center.

New UA Basketball Locker Room

New UA Basketball Locker Room — Trophy case: One of the main challenges of redesigning the locker room was finding a purpose for the load-bearing column that ran down the middle of it. “How do you create an open space,” Kozachik said, “with a column in the middle of the space?” The UA decided to hide it in the trophy case positioned in the center of the room. In the old room, the column sat in the middle of the players’ lounge area. What’s included: 1997 NCAA national championship trophy: The simple trophy with the wooden backing is the centerpiece of the Wildcats’ trophy case, or any team’s. The trophy, awarded seconds after the UA defeated Kentucky, had resided in the head coach’s office. The crystal basketball on a pedestal trophy in the Jim Click Hall of Champions is often mistaken for the national title trophy; it is in fact the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ award honoring the fact the UA finished first in the coaches’ poll.; 2001 NCAA runner-up trophy: The UA received the award after losing to Duke in the national title game.; Pac-10 trophies: The Wildcats’ conference championship trophies flank the national title and runner-up trophies. Some were in the UA’s former locker room, 8 feet above ground. The Wildcats keep other trophies in storage inside McKale Center. “We have more awards than we have room for,” Kozachik said proudly.; Carpet: The UA re-carpeted, too, using a blue design that, unlike many other locker rooms nationwide, does not feature a team-logo design. Dean Knuth/Arizona Daily Star

New UA Basketball Locker Room

New UA Basketball Locker Room — A glowing block A: An illuminated team logo has become a prominent feature in many locker rooms across the country, a way to wow recruits and players alike. The Wildcats’ logo, recessed into the ceiling, was important to coach Sean Miller. “The lighting was a big deal to him,” said assistant athletic director Steve Kozachik, who oversees facilities and capital projects. “When you walk in there, you want to say, ‘Wow,’ this is really cool.’ And you want an 18-year-old kid to say, ‘Wow.’; Comfy chairs: The UA flipped the seating so players can watch film and follow coaches’ instructions without having to look around a load-bearing beam. The UA has 10 leather chairs and 15 office chairs. UA players use the room year-round, and the versatility reflects that. The old room design had lockers on the left side, and the lounge area on the right. “That’s kind of where they go in their off-time,” Miller said last week. So the nicer it is, the more camaraderie, experience, and to me, it brings teams closer together.” Dean Knuth/Arizona Daily Star

New UA Basketball Locker Room

New UA Basketball Locker Room — Players’ personal space: Chairs: Yes, those are Herman Miller Aeron chairs. The well-known — and pricey — office chairs are designed to promote good posture and distribute pressure evenly throughout the body.; Ceiling: The Wildcats preferred “a clean-lined and crisp design, as opposed to something more ornate,” Scott said. The ceiling is 10 feet 10 inches high, featuring plenty of room for the oversized lockers. “It came off that way,” Scott said, “because of the scale of the room.”; Lockers: The lockers are clearly designed for tall men. The tops of the doors are 8 feet above the floor.; Cherry wood: The Wildcats chose cherry-wood lockers to match the wood in the redesigned coaches’ offices. “They had certain style preferences that they had established,” Scott said. “They wanted to have thematic continuity. They also wanted to make a statement about the commitment to quality of Arizona basketball.”; Schedules: Players’ weekly schedules are slipped between the handles of their locker doors.; Graphics: Nameplates above each locker are far more ornate than before. Featuring a player’s image, number and name, the plate is meant to inspire recruits and current players, too.; Locks, handles: Architects worked with the Wildcats down to the smallest specifics. Drawers or doors? Key lock or combination lock? Did the team want locks for the upper section, or the drawers underneath, too? The UA chose key locks for closet doors above and drawers below. Dean Knuth/Arizona Daily Star

New UA Basketball Locker Room

New UA Basketball Locker Room — Trophies: The UA wanted to show off the fruits of its legendary past — and displayed them in the middle of the room. “In the example locker rooms we studied, they oftentimes had prominently displayed trophies by the door,” said Alan Scott, project manager at NTD Architecture. Dean Knuth/Arizona Daily Star

New UA Basketball Locker Room

New UA Basketball Locker Room — The ‘utilitarian’ men’s room: Tall sinks: Arizona’s countertops stand 42 inches tall — an upsized feature for tall men. Three feet is a standard size for a home kitchen; a bathroom sink is as short as 30 inches. • Simple tile: Scott calls the design “rather elegant and understated.” Both the bathroom and the shower next door share mostly white flooring and walls. “The toilet rooms and showers, we wanted that to be very upscale,” Scott said. • Shower room: Located in a room beyond the sinks, the showers feature a rainfall-style and angled showerhead off the sidewalls, already a favorite of guard MoMo Jones. The UA replaced exposed piping and a central shower column that Scott called “utilitarian.” Dean Knuth/Arizona Daily Star

New UA Basketball Locker Room

New UA Basketball Locker Room — Leather chairs: The Wildcats have 10 leather chairs positioned in front of the white marker board Miller uses. With 15 players on the UA team, the leather chairs are taken on a first-come, first-served basis. • Televisions: Three flat screens hang on the wall to the left. Walk-on Max Wiepking, pictured, said having three was better than the one television the team had before: The first person to get to the locker room doesn’t have complete control over the television station. • Computer: The Wildcats have a PC on a shelf in the back of the room. Dean Knuth/Arizona Daily Star

New UA Basketball Locker Room

New UA Basketball Locker Room — The contemporary kitchen: Refrigerator: The stainless-steel fridge was filled with Powerade and little else. • Sink and microwave: Built more like a dorm kitchen than one in a home, the room features a standard sink and microwave oven in addition to acres of cabinet space. • A/V equipment (far left cabinet): Beyond the frosted glass on the full-length closet sits the Wildcats’ audio-visual equipment. Inside sits a stereo and receiver for a 60-plus-inch drop-down projection screen that falls in front of the white marker board. UA players and staff can navigate the A/V equipment using an iPad built into the wall. Dean Knuth/Arizona Daily Star

New UA Basketball Locker Room

New UA Basketball Locker Room — Trophy case: One of the main challenges of redesigning the locker room was finding a purpose for the load-bearing column that ran down the middle of it. “How do you create an open space,” Kozachik said, “with a column in the middle of the space?” The UA decided to hide it in the trophy case positioned in the center of the room. In the old room, the column sat in the middle of the players’ lounge area. Dean Knuth/Arizona Daily Star

New UA Basketball Locker Room

New UA Basketball Locker Room — 2001 NCAA runner-up trophy: The UA received the award after losing to Duke in the national title game. Dean Knuth/Arizona Daily Star

New UA Basketball Locker Room

New UA Basketball Locker Room — Photo of the new University of Arizona locker room at the McKale Center. Dean Knuth/Arizona Daily Star

New UA Basketball Locker Room

New UA Basketball Locker Room — Chairs: Yes, those are Herman Miller Aeron chairs. The well-known — and pricey — office chairs are designed to promote good posture and distribute pressure evenly throughout the body. Dean Knuth/Arizona Daily Star

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