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One of the conceptual designs for the "44 Plaza" outside Syracuse's indoor practice facility was leaked on the website Syracusefan.com.

(Syracusefan.com)

Syracuse, N.Y. — The Syracuse athletic department has been tight-lipped about its planned indoor practice facility, but renderings of three statues that could sit outside the IPF appear to have been released on the website Syracusefan.com.

The renderings were released by a message board poster identifying himself as Jason Poles. Poles said that a planned "44 Plaza" will include bronze statues of running backs Jim Brown, Floyd Little and Ernie Davis.

Poles, a former player at Syracuse, now works as an assistant athletic director for major gifts.

The three running backs are the natural choices for a "44 Plaza," but Syracuse officials have said that the plaza remains in the design phase and no decision had been made about whether to erect statues or which players would be honored.

Joe Giansante, the chief of communications for the Syracuse athletic department, said the renderings are conceptual and no plans have been finalized.

"We're still in the concept phase," Giansante said. "Anything you're seeing is conceptual. You always try to go in with a vision. Sometimes visions hit reality. Vision and reality have a negotiation. You have your vision and then it's how much do you have to spend on that vision. It's not unlike building a house."

Giansante said that Syracuse has had discussions with Hanlon Sculpture Studio about concepts for the 44 Plaza. He would not say whether the design is Syracuse's ideal for how the plaza will look.

The message board poster posted under the name Poles#7 and provided Poles' e-mail address and office phone number as his contact information. Poles did not return a phone call to verify the authenticity of the pictures or whether he was the poster.

In his post on June 5, Poles states that Syracuse still needs to raise $13,000 to pay for the statues and notes that the inside of the indoor practice facility will not be particularly fancy. He said it will include team slogans and pictures, not unlike most indoor facilities.

Giansante said the amount of money listed to complete the statues and plaza was inaccurate.

"That's a completely erroneous number," Giansante said. "Those concepts would cost infinitely more than that. You and I, we might have a hard time putting up a basketball hoop for $13,000. I certainly would deny a number that looks like that."

The conceptual designs include the logo for Hanlon Sculpture Studio, a well-known studio that works frequently with sports figures.

A representative of Hanlon Sculpture Studio asked a reporter if he had seen the renderings but declined an interview, saying Syracuse University's permission was required before he could discuss details.

Brian Hanlon is the master sculptor for the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., and has done a number of college sculptures including LSU's Shaquille O'Neal, Holy Cross' Bob Cousy and UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian.

"There's all kind of different concepts we're considering," Giansante said. "You look at different venues and what's different about each school. You find what's important about you and your tradition and history and you find something unique. We're going to have something to honor our tradition and we want to make it a destination where people will want to stop and take pictures. We can't wait to get people on campus to show them our tradition and history."

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