NC State asks to divert Lenovo Center improvement fund to support basketball
N.C. State on Wednesday asked the Centennial Authority, which oversees Lenovo Center, to divert money historically earmarked for building improvements directly to its men’s basketball program.
In a committee meeting Wednesday, N.C. State athletics chief of staff Michelle Lee said there were diminishing returns on capital improvements, considering N.C. State only plays games at Lenovo Center while practicing on campus, while the basketball program under new coach Will Wade needs the money now.
“It would go to men’s basketball specifically and the operation and running of that program,” Lee said. “Not anywhere else on campus, not football, but to specifically support and enhance what we’re currently doing. … We would not be using it for capital expenses for men’s basketball. If this request is granted it would be for the operational needs to support the men’s basketball program.”
Lee cited marketing and nutrition as potential expenses the money could cover, and denied it would go directly to player payroll or university-supported NIL deals when asked specifically about that by members of the authority’s legal and bylaws committee.
“I completely understand the hesitation and concerns over how the money is spent, but we’d like a little more equity,” Lee said.
When the naming rights to what is now Lenovo Center were sold for the first time in 2002, a complicated agreement divvied up the revenue between the Carolina Hurricanes, the arena authority and N.C. State, which originally had the right to name the building before hockey came into the picture.
The Wolfpack ended up with about $500,000 per year in today’s figures that could be used for capital improvements to the building and its surroundings at N.C. State’s request. There’s about $600,000 in that fund at the moment. No such restrictions were placed on the Hurricanes’ share.
Over the past two decades, that fund was used to replace the basketball court and renovate the men’s basketball locker room, both multiple times, and replace the Wolfpack’s championship banners, among other building improvements. It was also used twice outside the building, for parking infrastructure around the Close-King practice facility when it was constructed in 2015, and to create a food-truck patio and renovate seating at the north end of Carter-Finley Stadium.
Now, with revenue-sharing with athletes imminent and every school in the ACC scrambling for revenue, the university has asked the authority to give the money straight to the men’s basketball program.
“I can see where capital comes first, but I can also see now where noncapital requests are applicable,” said Perry Safran, an authority member and N.C. State trustee. “Sports have changed. The whole world has changed. I’ve seen it as a trustee. I’ve seen it as a sports fan. I think it’s a legitimate request.”
Committee chairman Kieran Shanahan asked Lee to submit a formal request for a change that it could approve and take to the full authority, but Shanahan indicated he was inclined to grant the request, and Hurricanes CEO Brian Fork said the team supported the change.
Some authority members said they wanted a portion of the money to be held back in a reserve fund to cover any capital expenses that do arise, and one expressed concern about going against the original intent of the naming-rights agreement.
“I’m a State fan and all that, and Lord knows we need the help in basketball, but I’ve got heartburn about us deviating from the agreement that we made to start with,” former Wendell mayor Lucius Jones said. “Even though part of the naming-rights money goes to State, I think the general intent to start with is it would be put back into facilities, like your locker rooms.”
This story was originally published May 7, 2025 at 1:03 PM.
