What Desert Financial Arena Renovations Mean for ASU Basketball

TEMPE -- The future of Arizona State athletics as a whole has brightened significantly since the official promotion of Graham Rossini to the AD post in May of last year.

Rossini has spent much of his time finding ways to boost fan engagement, aid in Arizona State competing more frequently in the modern landscape, and seeking to improve the athlete experience in Tempe.

The Sun Devil alum has done it again, as he led the charge to finalize plans to renovate Desert Financial Arena in an official filing that got pushed through earlier in the week.

Chris Karpman of Sun Devil Source reported on Tuesday night that the Arizona Board of Regents had officially approved a budget of around $100 million to renovate the home of Arizona State basketball since 1974.

The project is expected to take some time to finish - as the target date for completion is slated for December of 2029 - but it will likely ensure that the next era of Sun Devil basketball is more promising.

Not only does the aging arena get a complete makeover, but the Sun Devil program will likely receive one alongside the building.

Arizona State on SI approaches the implications of the renovations below.

• Either Bobby Hurley or the coach who succeeds him following the season will have the arena upgrades and locker room facelift to sell to recruits at all levels. The ability the program has had to reel in blue-chip prospects since James Harden is difficult to ignore, and it very well could continue in the next era of the program.

• The fan experience will improve substantially at DFA, much like it did at Mountain America Stadium following renovations at the latter along with the hiring of Graham Rossini as AD. The seating will hopefully be improved, as will the air circulation and the main concourse area.

Lastly, it represents the move into a new era. The Sun Devil program has struggled with player retention in recent years - leading to up-and-down results. Now, the men's and women's program hold substantial momentum heading into a new era in the Big 12.

Read more on major takeaways from Arizona State's clutch-time victory over TCU here, and more on why Arizona State fans should be feeling confident about the outlook of the season following the win here.