The South Dakota State University athletics program has spent more than $150 million on facility improvements in the last 16 years and the upgrades are paying off.
Following these renovations, Jackrabbit athletics has been improving as well. Almost every sport has benefitted from the upgrades and the increase in the quality of athletics has shown that, said Jeff Holm, senior associate athletic director for Facilities and Operations.
The SDSU football team has won the FCS National Championship the past two years, going undefeated in their 2023 season. The men and women’s basketball teams both won their respective conference title games and participated in the NCAA Tournament this past season and the wrestling team set a program-record, naming four Jackrabbits as All-Americans at the 2024 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.
“We are fortunate that whatever venue we are in, our fans show up and make it exciting,” Holm said. “This (First Bank & Trust Arena) is just going to add to that. Our fans have not been able to experience what they should have been able to experience, but now they will.”
These extensive projects were funded mainly by donors across the state and alumni but money also came from ticket and concession sales.
As the renovations in Frost Arena finish up, we look back on how SDSU has upgraded its facilities over the past decade and a half.
Stiegelmeier Family Student-Athlete Center
The $6 million project broke ground in 2007, marking the first construction on an athletic building at SDSU since 1973.
The Stiegelmeier Family Student-Athlete Center that began the sports facility renovation surge at SDSU was originally the Dykhouse Student-Athlete Center. It was renamed in 2023 to honor John Stiegelmeier, the former Jackrabbit football coach.
Before the student-athlete center was built and the coaches offices were put in, football meetings and offices were located in trailers that sat behind a set of temporary bleachers. The trailers were rented to the football team and sat on what is now the east end of the stadium.
“One of the coolest transition things that I experienced was, we’d have pro scouts come that had been in the trailers that were in really tough shape and then they would come into that Dykhouse center and they’d think they arrived and went to heaven because things were so different,” Steigelmeier said.
The student-athlete center now faces the newly renovated football stadium and houses coaches offices, locker rooms, study centers and film rooms for the football team and other athletes to utilize.
Sanford Jackrabbit Athletic Complex The Sanford Jackrabbit Atheltic Complex (SJAC) houses a 300-meter track, 100 yards of synthetic turf and a fully accessible training room for sports medicine, athletic training, strength and conditioning, physical therapy, hydrotherapy, observation rooms and office facilities.
This $32 million project finished construction in 2014.
Over 550 student athletes use the space every year for almost every sport at SDSU, including football, golf, soccer, softball, baseball, track and field and cross country, Holm said.
Prior to the SJAC being built, there was no place for athletes to train in the winter on campus. A line of tall, green trees stood instead and the football players had to get creative with their training location.
“We practiced in the Fifth Street Gym (downtown), so when we made the playoffs late in the season we would have to wait for youth basketball or rec volleyball to be done,” Stiegelmeier said. “We could only practice with half of the team so the offense would practice and then the defense would practice.”
Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium
One of the most prominent upgrades at SDSU was the $65 million renovation to build the Dana J. Dykhouse Football Stadium.
Coughlin Alumni Stadium had been built in 1909 and had only one side of stadium seating, where the press box was then located. Until 2007, one side of the stadium was lined with trailers and pine trees planted by Warren Williamson, who is now in the South Dakota State Hall of Fame.
“In the 90’s, we didn’t have meeting rooms. We never really had meeting rooms so we had to go to classrooms and it was kind of a hodgepodge,” Stiegelmeier said. “When I became the coach, we were given three trailers and six of our players renovated those to make meeting rooms/offices.”
In honor of major donor and alum Dana Dykhouse, the stadium was renamed the Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
Current Football Coach Jimmy Rogers, played at SDSU from 2006 to 2009 and his facility experience was a lot different than it is now.
“When we first walked into our position meeting and it was a trailer, and they’re old and there is insulation falling from the ceiling, the power consistently goes out, there was no heat in the locker room, and mice would eat our equipment. You knew it was bad,” Rogers said.
The new stadium includes a soy-based turf field and seats just under 20,000 fans. It features stadium, suite and loge seating. Multiple bathrooms were added throughout as well as concession stands for fans.
A 3,100-square foot LED video board, built by Daktronics, sits above the student section where The Pride of the Dakotas Marching Band plays.
Frank J. Kurtenbach Family Wrestling Center
Prior to this new building, the SDSU wrestling team did not have its own space to practice and compete. Matches are still held in Frost Arena, but without their own area, it was difficult to compete at the Big 12 level.
The Kurtenbach Family, including Frank Kurtenbach, donated $4 million to allow this project to begin.
The new facility now houses four different competition mats, locker rooms, offices, academic study spaces and a strength and conditioning area.
First Bank & Trust Arena
The latest addition to the multi-million dollar renovations are the upgrades in Frost Arena. When the renovations finish in the fall of 2024, the name will change to the First Bank & Trust Arena.
Frost was originally built in 1973 and was named after R.B. “Jack” Frost, former SDSU coach and athletic director. During this rebuild, upgrades such as scoreboards at each end of the floor, a scorer’s bench at courtside, a newly repainted floor and an $80,000 sound system were added.
The new $53.1 million arena will include premium seating and suites, a “state-of-the-art” video board, a new sound system, more restrooms and a larger concourse.
What’s next for SDSU Athletics?
What seems to be the end of a long stretch of renovations and donations is only the beginning of more to come, Holm said.
There are more projects that Facilities and Operations staff are looking to move forward in the coming years such as an on-campus soccer stadium, turf fields for softball and baseball and a bigger space for a student-academic center.
Holm said the staff at SDSU is constantly looking at other schools and comparing the facilities to one another, looking to see what SDSU can improve or change.
“We want to make sure we utilize, not reinvent the wheel if we don’t have to, but then look at social trends that are coming up to find a good balance between what is needed and what the cost is,” Holm said.
These constant renovations and upgrades not only help bring in more athletes, but improve the quality of Jackrabbit Athletics as a whole.
“It gives you a fighting shot to get better talent on campus when you can explain that we have what you need,” Rogers said. “We are no different than a FBS school in a lot of ways. When the facilities are first class, it makes a difference.”