Richards Family Gift for Football Team Room
September 19, 2014 10:53 AM | General
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| Wayne and Kathy Richards' gift for the Milan Puskar Stadium Team Room is an investment for the future success of the WVU football program. | |
| WVU Athletic Communications photo |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University Senior Associate Athletic Director/Executive Director of the Mountaineer Athletic Club Matt Borman announced today a $1.25 million gift by J. Wayne Richards and his wife, Kathy, for the Milan Puskar Stadium Team Room.
“The Mountaineer Athletic Club is very fortunate to have Wayne and Kathy as friends and supporters,” said Borman. “Their generosity is inspiring and shows the love and commitment they have for WVU Athletics. The gift they have made will have an immediate impact on our football program and will enhance student-athlete experiences at WVU for years to come.”
The Richards, natives of South Charleston, West Virginia, will be thanked for their gift during the first quarter of tomorrow night’s WVU-Oklahoma football contest.
“Wayne Richards is a great friend to not only me, but also a great supporter to the West Virginia University football program,” said Mountaineer coach Dana Holgorsen. “His generous gift has allowed us to have the team room we need, and it will be as nice as any in the country.”
President and CEO of GR Energy Services in Sugar Land, Texas, Richards, a 1981 WVU graduate with a bachelor’s degree in mining engineering, knows firsthand the necessity a new team room is for the Mountaineers.
“I’ve sat in the current team room, and I know some of our big linemen can’t be comfortable in the seats,” he said. “If WVU wants to compete at the highest level, we have to have the necessary facilities to do so.”
Just last year, Wayne and Kathy, who earned her degree in dental hygiene at WVU Tech in Montgomery, West Virginia, pledged $250,000 to the completed renovation of the Milan Puskar Center Weight Room.
“A football program needs to operate at maximum efficiency in order to be successful,” Holgorsen added. “We’ve been working hard on trying to get out there to raise the money that we need to be able to make the needed facility improvements a reality. No. 1 was the weight room, and we got that accomplished.
“The second thing is your meeting space – you have to be able to meet appropriately, which we can’t. The team room isn’t big enough for the entire squad to meet. Since 1980, there have not been any improvements done to the room, minus a few video updates.”
“As native West Virginians, Kathy and I are always looking for ways to help with critical needs,” Richards explained. “The gift for the Milan Puskar Stadium Team Room is a long-term investment that will help WVU football increase its visibility among the nation’s elite. I’ve been fortunate to see my previous investments pay off, and I look forward to seeing the finished Team Room.
“We believe in (Director of Athletics) Oliver Luck, the entire team at the Mountaineer Athletic Club, coach Holgorsen and the coaches he’s assembled here at WVU. As you look at the Mountaineers today, you’re seeing the time and effort invested into this program begin to pay off.”
Wayne, Kathy, and their two eldest daughters, Jennifer, a Texas Tech graduate, and Kacee, a graduate of Texas A&M, will be in Morgantown this weekend and will view the progress made on the Milan Puskar Stadium Team Room prior to Saturday’s game. The Richards’ youngest daughter, Amy, is a grad student at Texas A&M and currently teaching in Italy.
“I’m overwhelmed and can’t wait to visit Morgantown this weekend,” Richards said. “We make it back as much as we can – West Virginia is home. I am living the dream right now, as I get to go home and be involved with the progress being made within the WVU Athletic Department.”
The Milan Puskar Stadium Team Room project is expected to be completed following the 2014 football season.
The gift was made in conjunction with A State of Minds: The Campaign for West Virginia’s University. The $1 billion comprehensive campaign being conducted by the WVU Foundation on behalf of the University runs through December 2017.
For more information on “A State of Minds” visit http://www.astateofminds.com.
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