Milligan College, Tenn. (Aug. 21, 2012) — Milligan College celebrated the past, present and future of its athletics program at a rededication ceremony for the newly renovated Steve Lacy Fieldhouse on Tuesday, Aug. 21.
The ceremony took place during the college’s first all-athletes’ meeting of the year, where student athletes and their coaches were gathered to kick off the new season of sports at Milligan.
“The Steve Lacy Fieldhouse has been the home of the Milligan Buffaloes since 1976,” said Milligan President Bill Greer. “During that time, hundreds of student athletes have competed here, all representing Milligan College intercollegiate sports. This summer, underscoring the college’s commitment to excellence in athletics, the Steve Lacy Fieldhouse underwent a significant face-lift.”
The exterior of the building now boasts bright, exciting new graphics and signage, as well as new doors. The college collaborated with Snyder Signs in Johnson City, Tenn., to create a striking, 24-foot-tall triangular tower at the entrance of the fieldhouse. The tower disguises exposed architecture of the building and features images of Milligan athletes. The new Milligan athletics logo tops the tower.
In the recessed areas around the exterior of the fieldhouse, the college added six horizontal banners depicting images representing Milligan’s athletics teams and the five NAIA Champions of Character core values — respect, responsibility, integrity, servant leadership and sportsmanship.
Interior renovations, which were designed to reflect the college’s athletic branding, include fresh paint and a new hardwood floor from Mullican Flooring in Johnson City and installed by Sports Floors, Inc., of Memphis.
At Tuesday’s ceremony, Milligan’s student athletes and coaches were joined by family members of Steve Lacy, for whom the fieldhouse is named.
Lacy was a 1931 graduate of Milligan, and returned to his alma mater in 1933 to serve as the college’s athletic director. As a student, Lacy played football and basketball, where he served as captain of the 1931 basketball team. Once Lacy returned to Milligan, he assumed the role of coach of many sports. His teams won championships in basketball, football, baseball and track, and he was the only coach in the history of the Smokey Mountain Athletic Conference to win championships in four sports.
In addition to his role in athletics, Lacy served as Milligan’s dean and vice president from 1942-1947, and then became a member of the board, serving as chairman for 13 years.
Steve Lacy Fieldhouse is the primary venue for Milligan’s basketball, cheerleading, dance, swimming and volleyball teams. Over the years, it has housed offices for coaches and has been the location for thousands of students enrolled in physical activities courses. In addition, it houses the Citizen’s Bank Athletic Training Center, which benefits all of Milligan’s student athletes.
Milligan’s athletics program currently provides more than 300 students the opportunity to compete on the collegiate level. Since 2000, the Buffaloes have won the Duard Walker Trophy, given to the Appalachian Athletic Conference’s best all-around athletic department, eight times, including six consecutively from 2000-05. In the past 10 years, Milligan has made 60 national tournament appearances and 47 AAC regular season and tournament championships.
In addition to their success on the field, the Buffaloes have captured two AAC Champions of Character awards and 19 teams were chosen as Champions of Character since 2004. Last season saw the Buffaloes have 48 student-athletes honored on All-Academic teams and six Daktronic-NAIA Scholar Athletes.