Wake Forest Athletics
Shah Basketball Complex Gives Wake a Facilities Boost
3/11/2020 9:09:00 AM | Men's Basketball
As a 1991 graduate, Mit Shah was on campus as Wake Forest basketball began its historic run, making the NCAA Tournament seven straight seasons and competing in the postseason for 16 consecutive years under coaches Dave Odom and Skip Prosser.
It's the passion to return to that level of achievement that fueled Shah's $5 million gift to launch the Shah Basketball Complex, a state-of-the-art player development center connected to the brand new Sutton Sports Performance Center.
Wake Forest celebrated the ribbon cutting of both facilities back in September in a ceremony in front of fans, alumni, donors and student-athletes.
"Basketball is the emotional center of this university," Shah said. "It's what everybody feels when they characterize their passion for athletics.
"When it came time to make a decision to do this or not do this, it was really simple. If we don't do this, our die is cast. If we do this, the opportunities are boundless. This is, to me, the best facility in the ACC, and this is one of the very best in all of America."
Shah, the youngest Wake Forest alumnus to deliver a contribution of this significance, is part-owner of the Atlanta Hawks, as well as founder and CEO of Noble Investment Group, a lodging investment company based in Atlanta.
"In Atlanta we built what we believe to be the very best training facility in all of the NBA," Shah said. "It is something that is truly paying dividends. We can take a player like John Collins and from when he finished up at Wake Forest through his rookie year, you saw a substantial amount of jump. From his rookie year to his second year, you saw even more progress.
"This isn't just a nice, shiny new building that smells good and looks good for recruits. It's a lab. This is transformational. This was intended so that we could go out and attract the very best student-athletes from all over the world, because they believe this is the very best place they can develop to accomplish whatever it is they want."
The Shah Basketball Complex includes more than 6,000 square feet of strength and conditioning space, new offices for staff, locker rooms, and specific rooms dedicated to cardio, recovery and cryotherapy. There are analytical systems and monitors in place — even directly on the practice court — which have already helped staff individualize teaching.
"We can individually train every one of our students and our student-athletes," Shah said. "Walk around this campus and everything should be about student development and player development. Whether you're in a biology lab, the business school or here, you have to figure out how to arm coaches and educators with the resources to help these kids compete and get better.
"All of us are different. How you train and develop everyone — you can personalize that just like we personalize education across the rest of our campus. This is an example of what works for the San Antonio Spurs and what works for us with the Atlanta Hawks. There's a framework here that exists and now we just have to execute."
Shah said it's obvious that the current crop of Deacs are euphoric about the opportunities in front of them with the new tools.
"It's been a blessing," Wake Forest senior point guard Brandon Childress said. "Thank you to Mit Shah and everyone else who contributed to it. This has been a blessing to be a part of this. It's just amazing."
It's that sentiment that stuck with Shah in the hours and days following the ribbon cutting.
"People remember how you made them feel," Shah said, referencing a famous Maya Angelou quote. "When we start winning in basketball again, everybody will start coalescing around the continued love for that. We just have to get there."
It's the passion to return to that level of achievement that fueled Shah's $5 million gift to launch the Shah Basketball Complex, a state-of-the-art player development center connected to the brand new Sutton Sports Performance Center.
Wake Forest celebrated the ribbon cutting of both facilities back in September in a ceremony in front of fans, alumni, donors and student-athletes.
"Basketball is the emotional center of this university," Shah said. "It's what everybody feels when they characterize their passion for athletics.
"When it came time to make a decision to do this or not do this, it was really simple. If we don't do this, our die is cast. If we do this, the opportunities are boundless. This is, to me, the best facility in the ACC, and this is one of the very best in all of America."
Shah, the youngest Wake Forest alumnus to deliver a contribution of this significance, is part-owner of the Atlanta Hawks, as well as founder and CEO of Noble Investment Group, a lodging investment company based in Atlanta.
"In Atlanta we built what we believe to be the very best training facility in all of the NBA," Shah said. "It is something that is truly paying dividends. We can take a player like John Collins and from when he finished up at Wake Forest through his rookie year, you saw a substantial amount of jump. From his rookie year to his second year, you saw even more progress.
"This isn't just a nice, shiny new building that smells good and looks good for recruits. It's a lab. This is transformational. This was intended so that we could go out and attract the very best student-athletes from all over the world, because they believe this is the very best place they can develop to accomplish whatever it is they want."
The Shah Basketball Complex includes more than 6,000 square feet of strength and conditioning space, new offices for staff, locker rooms, and specific rooms dedicated to cardio, recovery and cryotherapy. There are analytical systems and monitors in place — even directly on the practice court — which have already helped staff individualize teaching.
"We can individually train every one of our students and our student-athletes," Shah said. "Walk around this campus and everything should be about student development and player development. Whether you're in a biology lab, the business school or here, you have to figure out how to arm coaches and educators with the resources to help these kids compete and get better.
"All of us are different. How you train and develop everyone — you can personalize that just like we personalize education across the rest of our campus. This is an example of what works for the San Antonio Spurs and what works for us with the Atlanta Hawks. There's a framework here that exists and now we just have to execute."
Shah said it's obvious that the current crop of Deacs are euphoric about the opportunities in front of them with the new tools.
"It's been a blessing," Wake Forest senior point guard Brandon Childress said. "Thank you to Mit Shah and everyone else who contributed to it. This has been a blessing to be a part of this. It's just amazing."
It's that sentiment that stuck with Shah in the hours and days following the ribbon cutting.
"People remember how you made them feel," Shah said, referencing a famous Maya Angelou quote. "When we start winning in basketball again, everybody will start coalescing around the continued love for that. We just have to get there."
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