Renovated Littlejohn creates buzz for reopening

By KEN TYSIAC
Staff Writer
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Clemson Larry Shyatt proudly walked up the ramp from Clemson's practice court at Littlejohn Coliseum toward the locker room the Tigers had moved into just the day before.

Shyatt, who is in his fifth season as Clemson's head basketball coach, has been waiting since he took the job for the completion of renovations at Littlejohn, the Tigers' home arena.

Those renovations aren't completed, but school officials have determined Littlejohn is functional enough for Clemson to reopen the arena for today's ACC opener against third-ranked Duke.

The annex that holds the practice court, locker rooms, a training room and a 3,860-square-foot weight room is furthest along, and Shyatt gave a brief tour of some of those facilities Friday. He ran his hand across the hand-crafted, wooden lockers with tiger paws carved in them for both coaches and players.

He pointed to the pool table, covered with purple felt, in the players' lounge. These are the amenities most important to Shyatt, because he hopes upgrading them will give Clemson a significant boost in recruiting.

"It's got to help our future, in terms of enticing young, impressionable people, that we have the facilities and we have the whereabouts to put together a class program," Shyatt said.

Clemson is spending $31 million and has endured numerous headaches to improve Littlejohn, which was opened in 1968. Two small fires have sent emergency vehicles speeding to the construction site.

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