By Keith Sargeant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

When Rutgers Athletics Director Pat Hobbs called Mike O'Neill in for a meeting last month, the Scarlet Knights women's soccer coach thought he was receiving bad news.

For more than a year, O'Neill had been telling recruits all about a planned training facility his women's soccer program would be sharing with the men's soccer team and both lacrosse programs in the near future.

And now Hobbs had just told O'Neill to sit down for a status report on the facility.

Don't Edit

Photos courtesy of Rutgers Athletics

"When he brought me into the office, he said, ‘Remember that new (soccer/lacrosse) building?' Well, we're not building that now,' '' O'Neill said.

O'Neill recalled Hobbs pausing for dramatic effect and then delivering this punchline:

"He told me: We’re building something better.' ''

Indeed, Rutgers officials are scraping a previously released plan in favor of a Busch Campus facility that will feature training facilities for the men's and women's soccer and lacrosse programs, house offices for athletics' administration, and consolidate academic-support services for all 24 Scarlet Knights teams.

Credit Gary and Barbara Rodkin for delivering a massive kickstarter — a record $15 million gift — for a project that Rutgers officials hope to break ground on before the summer.

"The Gary and Barbara Rodkin Center for Academic Success will be the hub for all activity in Rutgers athletics,'' Hobbs told NJ Advance Media in a recent interview. "This facility will enable us to build a best-in-class academic support program.''

Don't Edit

As Hobbs displayed the renderings in his office, O'Neill imagined sharing with his prospective recruits the plan for what he called "one-stop shopping'' for his program.

While the Rutgers women's soccer coaches' offices is located in the Rutgers Athletic Center, the team's locker rooms are in the Hale Center. That will change under the new plan, as the team's training amenities will be under the same roof as an expansive academic-support area.

"It has your academics, it has your strength and conditioning, it has your nutrition centers, it has your film rooms — it has everything your student-athlete needs,'' O'Neill said. "I think it's a game-changer for Rutgers athletics.''

Don't Edit

That "game-changer'' statement was echoed by other Rutgers coaches whose programs will be impacted by the facility sandwiched between High Point Solutions Stadium and Yurcak Field on the Busch Campus in Piscataway.

In a Q&A roundtable, O'Neill, Rutgers men's soccer coach Dan Donigan, men's lacrosse coach Brian Brecht and women's lacrosse coach Laura Brand Sias discussed how the Rodkin Center would impact their respective programs:

Don't Edit

How a $15M gift is changing the future of Rutgers Athletics

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Photo courtesy of Rutgers Athletics

Brand Sias:

"It's definitely a game-changer. For those of us — the two soccer coaches and two lacrosse coaches — we have been in the designing phase of a facility for a long time now. We all had this mindset of what we were getting and we were blown away by that. But then to walk into Pat’s office and be told, ‘Hey you’re getting something that’s going to provide you with about three times more than what you thought you were getting.’ I mean, game-changer might even be an understatement.

"Because not only is it going to help out all of our programs, but it’s just that confirmation of a commitment that our administration has to bolstering our profile in the Big Ten. As a coach, that’s just the type of thing that you want to consistently see. It just makes our jobs so much easier. It makes our selling of what we’re going to provide the student-athlete in the future that much easier.''

Don't Edit

Donigan:

"It just sends a message to everybody — every student-athlete that’s here, every coach, every support-staff member, everybody involved in Rutgers athletics — that it's a whole new ballgame. The Rodkins clearly have a vision and a goal to make a difference in our student-athletes’ lives. They see what role athletics plays in that. That in itself is an incredible statement to everybody who supports Rutgers Athletics. It’s such an unbelievably generous gift by the family. You don’t see this all that often across the country. It’s pretty amazing.

"And obviously you just hope that more and more people jump on board. That is certainly one heck of a kickstart to what Pat and his team are trying to accomplish here. It just makes us a player in the game, in my opinion, and I’m over the moon about the opportunities it’s going to provide our student-athletes, to our coaches, and support-staff to be able to work in a first-class environment.

"It certainly gives us that much more motivation every day to put a program and a team together that’s going to be able to compete in this conference. Not that we didn't have that before, but I can’t say enough about what this brings to men’s soccer and to Olympic sports in general here at Rutgers.''

Don't Edit

Brecht:

“Obviously it was great news for Rutgers athletics, the student athletes and selfishly our men’s lacrosse program. It’s just a huge impact that Gary and Barbara are making on the lives of the student athletes here at Rutgers and the ones who we’re recruiting to play Big Ten lacrosse.

"This is a game-changer, this is huge for our program and for all our student athletes and for our alumni who want to see Rutgers athletics success both on the playing fields and in the classroom.''

Don't Edit

Live look-in at RWJBarnabas Health Athletic Performance Center project

Don't Edit

From RU's golf course to med school: How Emily Mills earned a B1G scholarship

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Photo by Ben Solomon | Rutgers Athletics

What's the significance to getting all of Rutgers' athletes under one roof for academic support?

O'Neill: "One thing we talk about all the time is the student-athlete experience. To actually see the vision that Pat had and to see it in drawings, it was such a good feeling. We talk so much about our players excelling both in the classroom and on the field, and this gift provides our student athletes with a state-of-the-art academic center and training facility all under one roof. With Gary's and Barbara's generosity, the Rodkins Center is going to be one of the top academic- and athletic-facilities in the country.''

Don't Edit

Brand Sias: "For so many of our sports, the opportunities beyond their college career, there's not a lot of money-making opportunities, particularly in the sport of women's lacrosse. So we want to make sure that we are providing for them the best opportunities to prepare for their lives after college.

"Academics is our No. 1 priority so to be able to train them both athletically and academically in one facility, you can’t ask for anything more.''

Don't Edit

Donigan: "We've had tremendous success academically across the board with all of our programs and all of our student-athletes. I can only speak specifically to our men's soccer program. We've won our team academic award. Our team has an overall cumulative GPA of over 3.0. We had two men's soccer players (honored) as distinguished scholar athletes in the Big Ten this past year. We pride ourselves on the academic success of our team.

"Obviously a big part of it is training these guys into really good collegiate soccer players — and that’s going to hopefully set a foundation for them for the rest of their lives — but it’s really all about academics and that’s what we preach in the recruiting process and I think this just validates the emphasis of who we are as an institution and as an athletic department.

"It proves to everybody across the country that academics is just as important as everything else, and that’s what gives our kids chances post-college. So it’s huge for us recruiting-wise.''

Don't Edit

Brecht: "Let's be honest, we're recruiting young men and their families because Rutgers University is a first-class academic institution. It's about the opportunities for them after college and their athletic careers are over with. That's why we go to New York City and have a professional development day. That's why Shawn Tucker does such a great job with the Leadership Academy and Scott Walker does an outstanding job with the academic support. I know everybody likes to see new buildings and shiny things but our program has grown because of the jobs Shawn Tucker and Scott Walker do for our student athletes.

"The academic excellence is a big part of our success hands down. It’s one thing to attract high-end student-athletes, it’s another thing to develop them and allow them to meet and exceed their goals and expectations.''

Don't Edit

N.J. Senate moves forward bill for students to be screened for heart issues

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.