By Michelle Kaufman

mkaufman@MiamiHerald.com

The University of Miami men's and women's basketball teams will be working and lounging in fancier digs after a $1.7 million makeover this month that will include upgrades to the weight room, locker rooms, practice facility hallways, and athlete lounges.

The first part of the project is scheduled to be completed by Nov. 2, at the start of the exhibition season.

The coaches’ offices and hallways will feature highlights from Miami basketball history and high-profile alumni. The players' lounge will get new couches, T.V.s and a gaming center.

“I’ve always thought that we had great facilities here with our offices and locker rooms and practice facility being in our game venue, but I am so excited for the impact these renovations will bring,” women’s coach Katie Meier said. “We compete for ACC championships every year and these improvements will greatly enhance our current student-athletes’ experiences, as well as give us a huge advantage in recruiting. When we bring recruits in, they will see the state-of-the-art, modern technology and awesome ‘U’ branding throughout. We are extremely grateful for the donations and hard work that has made these renovations possible.”

“It really started in year two after Director of Athletics Blake James took over and we sat down and talked about the direction of the programs,” men’s coach Jim Larrañaga said. “Due to certain limited university budgets that can go to projects like this, we had to go out and raise the money. We were able to reach out to a lot of friends and a lot of them were very understanding and very generous in their contributions. We can’t be any more thankful to the people who have made this possible.”