Marquette's new men's basketball locker room at the Al McGuire Center boast top-shelf wooden lockers, blue leather chairs, blue-and-gold mood lighting and a 90-inch high-definition TV. Credit: Marquette Athletics

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Hard to believe, but Marquette's Al McGuire Center, built for $31 million as a state-of-the-art athletics complex, is almost 11 years old.

Upon his hiring last April, coach Steve Wojciechowski appreciated the building's value as one of college basketball's better training facilities, but he also noted that it had become dated.

Six months later, Wojciechowski's priority to have the Al's all-sports weight room, men's basketball locker room and men's basketball practice gym totally renovated is virtually complete.

The locker room was gutted and fitted with blue leather chairs, top-shelf wooden lockers, blue-and-gold mood lighting and a 90-inch high-definition TV in a large oval-shaped space.

The bathroom's fixtures are straight out of a boutique hotel with frosted-glass, MU-engraved doors for the individual showers.

The Kasten Gym, where the Golden Eagles practice, has a new floor and a cleaner, more modern look.

The weight room has been fitted with all new equipment. Each station is equipped with a computer that registers the players' progress.

The hallways are adorned with Marquette's basketball heritage, from a glass case featuring its jerseys through the years to a mural homage to its All-Americans. The 1977 national championship trophy is in an alcove just inside the locker room.

"The Al has been a tremendous home to our basketball program for a long time," Wojciechowski said. "But like any home that's over a decade old and has been used hard, it needed a facelift.

"It needed to be upgraded, which is what we did. With the upgrades we wanted to celebrate the past and create a great working environment for our current players. We wanted all those things to be simple, classy and sharp."

Wojciechowski said he did not know the cost of the project, which he characterized as a "great investment" for the private school.

"It's quite an upgrade," he said. "The intent of the Al was to be a premier training facility and that was accomplished. But as people are trying to catch up with you and the building is getting a little older, you've got to figure out ways to stay on the cutting edge of what you're doing.

"This summer was a good first step for us remaking the Al into one of the premier training facilities in the United States."

The upgrades are also an important recruiting tool.

"Two areas," Wojciechowski said. "One, we wanted our guys to have a home. They spend more time in the Al than anywhere else. We also wanted to create a situation where when kids we are recruiting come here, they recognize that it's an elite-level training facility, which it is."

Wojciechowski recently had former All-American and current Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers in for a preview. A quote by Rivers — "I came to Marquette University wanting to be a basketball player, and got that and a lot more" — is featured below the neon-lit players entrance to the locker room that Wojciechowski said is much better than the team's dressing quarters at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

Whereas the gym once had pennants featuring every Marquette player who had made it to the NBA, it now showcases contemporary stars such as Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler, as well as a mural featuring Rivers when he coached the Boston Celtics to an NBA title.

"There is a ton of history here with our program," Wojciechowski said. "We want that to be celebrated in the classiest, most professional way."