Clemson basketball arena renovations get final approval. Here’s the timeline

Littlejohn Coliseum will be getting a facelift this winter.

The Clemson University Board of Trustees’ finances and facilities committee on Thursday unanimously gave Phase II approval for planned renovations for the arena that houses the Tigers’ men’s basketball, women’s basketball and gymnastics teams.

Renovations will begin in December 2024 with an expected completion date of September 2026 and are not expected to impact fan seating or gameday operations for the 2024-25 men’s and women’s basketball seasons, which begin early next month, or the gymnastics season, which begins in January 2025.

The project had already received Phase I approval in July 2023 but required Phase II approval from the university board of trustees and the state of South Carolina for construction to begin. Clemson’s BOT unanimously approved Phase II of the project during its 2024 fall quarterly meeting this week.

The project – which is being privately funded through Clemson’s athletics fundraising arm, IPTAY, and spearheaded by a large donation by prominent Clemson boosters Jim and Candace Brown – is expected to cost around $40 million.

It will renovate over 51,000 square feet of existing team spaces and add another 30,000 square feet of new construction to the Littlejohn Coliseum and surrounding Swann Pavilion area.

According to Clemson athletics, the project will update the current women’s basketball team spaces, practice gym, offices and recruiting areas – and a newly constructed men’s basketball wing with offices, team areas and a practice gym.

The project will also expand and upgrade the current strength and conditioning, nutrition and sports medicine spaces in Littlejohn Coliseum that are shared by the basketball teams. Outside the arena, Swann Pavilion will also be expanded.

Clemson’s popular gymnastics team holds meets at Littlejohn Coliseum but has its own standalone practice facility and team offices at the nearby women’s sports facility, which opened in January 2024.

The Tigers’ investment in basketball renovations comes at an exciting time for both programs. Last year, Clemson’s men’s basketball team made only the second Elite Eight in program history and first in 44 years.

Longtime coach Brad Brownell received a contract extension as a result, and his Tigers were picked to finish fourth in the ACC this year.

Meanwhile, the Clemson women’s basketball team is entering a new era under first-year coach Shawn Poppie, who was hired away from Chattanooga in April.

Poppie, who led the Mocs to consecutive NCAA Tournaments and was a well-regarded assistant at Virginia Tech before that, replaced Amanda Butler, who was fired after six seasons.

This will be Littlejohn Coliseum’s second major renovation in the past decade. The arena’s last major renovation began in May 2015 and was completed before the start of the 2016-17 season at a cost of $63.5 million.

Littlejohn Coliseum (capacity 9,000) originally opened in 1968.