Oklahoma State donation touted as largest for athletics

[BricktownGuy]

By Jeff Latzke
AP Sports Writer

Oklahoma State University plans to announce a donation Tuesday touted as the highest in NCAA history for an athletic program.



The donation would be the latest in a series of large gifts for the university, which is overhauling and expanding its athletic facilities. The size of the donation and the person making it were not disclosed Monday. A news conference was scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday.

T. Boone Pickens, an Oklahoma State alumnus and oil tycoon, donated $20 million to Oklahoma State's athletic department in 2003 as part of a $70 million overall gift to the university.

As thanks for the gift, the largest in school history, the university renamed its football stadium after Pickens. The stadium is undergoing a $102 million renovation to expand seating, add luxury boxes, upgrade facilities for fans and bowl in the west end zone.

Express Personnel Inc. founder and CEO Bob Funk made two significant donations to the university's "Next Level" campaign to pay for the upgrades to Boone Pickens Stadium. At the time of Funk's second donation in September, the campaign had already passed its original $86 million goal.

In May, Pickens and Sherman Smith each donated $1.5 million for new synthetic turf and upgrades to the strength and conditioning facility and football locker room. The turf will eventually be moved to the indoor practice facility and be replaced in the stadium by grass.

The football program isn't the only intended beneficiary of improvements at Oklahoma State, which gave its basketball arena, Gallagher-Iba Arena, a $55 million expansion in 2000.

As part of a proposed master plan, Oklahoma State hopes to create an athletic village with upgraded facilities for track, tennis and soccer and an indoor facility to be used for football, baseball, track and other sports.

Creation of the proposed village requires the university to acquire about 24 blocks of property north of the football and basketball stadiums.

According to a university fact sheet, Oklahoma State spent only $11.7 million on its athletic facilities from 1967 to 1999 and the university's athletic budget ranks 10th in the Big 12 Conference. The cost of the proposed plan, which also includes improvements to academic facilities, is estimated at $500 million.

[BricktownGuy]

STILLWATER -- Oklahoma State University officials announced today that legendary oilman Boone Pickens has donated $165 million to be used to fund a comprehensive collegiate athletic complex during the next five to 10 years.



Pickens’ gift is the largest single donation for athletics to an institution of higher education in U.S. history, according to OSU officials.

“My passion for OSU has only intensified over the years as I recognize the link between my education and my success,” said Pickens, 77, in a statement. “I believe that developing teams that are competitive in all sports requires the best facilities possible. Developing those facilities will help move the university into a new era, both in athletics and academics. Athletics have proven to be a significant contributor in the academic success of an institution, both from a fundraising and a performance perspective.”

Pickens’ gift will help build the west end zone at Boone Pickens Stadium, a multi-purpose indoor practice complex, new soccer, track and tennis facilities, a new equestrian center, a new baseball stadium and new outdoor practice fields.

Pickens earned a degree in geology from OSU in 1951. He went on to found Mesa Petroleum, which he grew into one of the nation’s largest independent oil and gas firms in his four decades of leadership there. He left the company in 1996 to found BP Capital, an energy investment firm that has consistently ranked as one of the most successful hedge funds in the U.S.

“Mr. Pickens’ $165 million donation to our athletic program is a critical component of our three-pronged approach to developing a top-tier university," said OSU System CEO and President David Schmidly. "Athletics, academics, and student life must all fit together to build a competitive institution.

“We’re pleased with Boone’s confidence in the leadership of the athletic program and the university, and that he believes so strongly in the overall direction of our institution.”

Pickens previously contributed and pledged to OSU more than $100 million. The school's football stadium and school of geology are named after him.

Pickens' non-profit gifts in 2005, including his latest OSU contribution, total about $230 million. Of that, OSU giving in 2005 was $190 million. Other major recipients of his giving include the American Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina disaster relief, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Foundation, Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins and UT Southwestern Medical Center.

OSU’s athletic projects

The projected cost of the proposed OSU athletic facilities is about $300 million. Here's a breakdown of those projects. (Projected completion date in parenthesis).

$6 million for new outdoor practice fields (2007).

$120 million for enclosing the west end zone at Boone Pickens Stadium (2008).

$4 million for new equestrian center (2008) $50 million for new construction of a multi-purpose indoor practice complex (2009)

$30 million for new soccer/track complex (2009)

$15 million for new tennis facilities (2009) $30 million for new baseball stadium (2011)