The football stadium and locker rooms are taking on a new look for 2003


Renovations are underway within the IU Football Locker Room at Memorial Stadium. The renovation was made possible by a gift from former IU and current Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Trent Green and his wife, IU alum, Julie (Lentz) Green. (per <a href='http://iuhoosiers.com/football/news/03-04/fb05-14-03.html' target='_blank'>IUHoosiers.com</a> )

May 14, 2003

Trent Green Gives Back to IU Football
Bloomington, Ind. - The Indiana Football lockerroom will receive a facelift for the 2003 season, thanks to the generosity of former Hoosier and current Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Trent Green and his wife, and IU alum, Julie (Lentz) Green. The Greens have donated the funds to remodel the football lockerroom at Memorial Stadium this summer.

"My wife (Julie) and I have always wanted to give back to the University. This was a great way for us to do it. It's something we both feel strongly about. Coach (Bill) Mallory is back involved in the program. He speaks very highly of Coach DiNardo and the direction the football program is headed in," Trent Green said. "We just wanted to help be a part of that and get Indiana Football back to a place where we're going to bowl games, winning football games and generating excitement, not only around Bloomington, but also around the entire state in an effort to fill the stadium back up."

The facelift to the original 1986 facility will include renovating and modernizing the existing space with new carpeting,
lighting and a new bulkhead ceiling along with the installation of custom-built oak wood lockers for 105 football players.

"We are so gratified that Trent has remembered Indiana University in his financial planning. He is the sort of individual who understands the importance of giving back to his university," Indiana Director of Athletics Terry Clapacs said.

"I would like to thank Trent and Julie for this tremendous gift. I believe that when a student gives back to his/her university it is a tremendous compliment to the university. It is a reflection upon the experience the student had while at Indiana," Indiana Head Football Coach Gerry DiNardo said.

Trent Green, a 1992 graduate from the Kelley School of Business, ranks fourth on the school's all-time passing yardage list with 5,400 career yards. He is also fourth on the school's all-time all-purpose yardage list with 5,916 and ninth with 20 career rushing touchdowns. Green was a member of two bowl teams, leading the Hoosiers to the 1990 Peach Bowl and to a 24-0 victory over Baylor in the 1991 Copper Bowl. The 1991 season was Green's finest statistically, as he passed for a school record 2,627 yards and 12 touchdowns and also rushed for 202 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Green played for Indiana's all-time winningest head coach Bill Mallory, who has instrumental in assisting the IU Varsity Club staff in securing the Green's gift.

Julie (Lentz) Green is a Fort Wayne native and was a 1992 graduate of the School of Education and a member of the Chi Omega sorority. The Lentz family has a long history with Indiana University as both Julie's father (Bill) and mother (Darcie) along with her brother (David) and sister (Susan) are all IU graduates. Bill and Darcie are long-time donors and supporters of IU Athletics and established the William C. Lentz Quarterback Scholarship in honor of Trent.

ALSO.....

Hoosiers Upgrade to AstroPlay for 2003 Season
Bloomington, Ind. - The renovations continue at Indiana University's Memorial Stadium thanks to the generous gifts of Hoosier donors. Thanks to gifted money, when the Hoosiers take to the field on September 13 in their home opener against Indiana State, the two teams will do battle on AstroPlay, a new state-of-the-art turf surface. The announcement of the new playing surface at Memorial Stadium comes just one month after Indiana announced that the football team locker room will be renovated, thanks to a donation from former Hoosier and current Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Trent Green and his wife, IU alum, Julie (Lentz) Green.

"This is a terrific addition for our program. A lot of time and research went into our decision to make a change and we determined that this change is in the best interest of our student-athletes," Head Coach Gerry DiNardo said. "In addition to having a state-of-the-art competition surface, this will allow us to have the ability to add another practice field into our rotation without damaging the gameday field. We are often practicing into the early evening and lighting has become an issue. Now we will have a lighted field to use for practice."

Last fall the Hoosiers practiced on the soccer practice fields. At times the team was forced to move from the soccer fields to the inner field at the track & field complex and then to Memorial Stadium under the lights, all in one practice session. This season the team will benefit from the new practice fields adjacent to Memorial Stadium and the new AstroPlay surface in Memorial stadium.

The contract was awarded to AstroPlay for $446,000 and it includes a ten-year guarantee from the company. AstroPlay fields look and play like optimum grass fields, yet they offer even more advantages: all-weather performance, durability and safety. The surface is tufted polyethylene fibers with a rubber in-fill on top of a pad.

"We found that the current grass surface was very expensive to maintain and in recent years it created poor playing conditions. Our estimations showed resodding the field would cost about $150,000 every three years and maintenance costs of a grass field were $75,000 per year," Indiana Director of Athletics Terry Clapacs said. "On a life cycle this new turf is much less expensive and it is a more reliable surface."

"We visited a number of schools and many schools are faced with the same space problems that we are faced with," special assistant to the athletic director and former IU head football coach Bill Mallory said. "I totally agree with Coach DiNardo on this decision and am very excited about the change. We will be able to put Memorial Stadium to good use. I spoke with both of my sons, who coach at Illinois and Oklahoma State, and their head coaches, and they could not say enough good things about the playing surface. I also spoke with a trainer at one of the schools and he said that he saw injuries decrease by 30 percent with the installation of the turf surface. This was a decision that we spent a lot of time researching and one that I am very excited about."

Indiana played on AstroPlay last season when the Hoosiers traveled to Illinois. The addition of turf at Memorial Stadium will now bring the total to five Big Ten schools that will have a turf playing surfaces in 2003, including Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota.

The project is expected to begin in early July and be completed by the start of football practice in early August.