Creighton University breaks ground on Sports Performance Center
11/13/2025 1:45:00 PM | Creighton Athletics, Athletic Performance
OMAHA – Creighton University has broken ground on the Sports Performance Center, an approximately 50,000-square-foot facility for the University's 300 student-athletes, coaches and staff. The center, part of Creighton's $300 million Fly Together initiative, will be completed by 2027 and located at 20th and Burt Streets.
The Sports Performance Center will be the crown jewel of Creighton's emerging Athletic Village, a campus within a campus that will encompass the athletic facilities The Ruth Scott Training Center, D.J. Sokol Arena, Ryan Athletic Center, the McDermott Center and fields. The center will feature approximately 10,000 square feet of new strength and conditioning space, an outdoor training area, a dining hall catering to the specific nutritional needs of student-athletes, areas for academic advising, sports medicine, and psychology services, and gathering spaces that reflect the University's commitment to formation through community.
Creighton President the Rev. Daniel S. Hendrickson, SJ, PhD, said that the Sports Performance Center's design will embrace one of the University's core values: cura personalis, caring for the whole person — in this case, caring for the whole student-athlete.
"Student-athletes who come to Creighton want something more than athletics," Father Hendrickson said. "They want great academic programs. They want beautiful spaces. They want opportunities to develop spiritually. With the Sports Performance Center, so many essential aspects of the Creighton experience will now be available to all our student-athletes under one roof."
The Sports Performance Center is one of the first projects of Fly Together, a donor-funded initiative to reshape Creighton's 12-block athletic and recreational corridor with 11 new or upgraded facilities and outdoor spaces.
In September, the University announced the initiative with the largest gift in Creighton's history: $100 million from the Heider Family Foundation. The University has raised an additional $105 million from multiple early donors and will continue to raise funds to invest in Fly Together projects. Including the Heider Family Foundation, lead donors Don C. Scott, Linda and Larry Pearson, and CL and Rachel Werner supported the Sports Performance Center.
In the evolving landscape of college athletics, building elite facilities is one of the most effective ways Creighton can continue to compete for top recruiting prospects, said Marcus Blossom, McCormick Endowed Athletic Director.
"Fly Together, and in particular the Sports Performance Center, will attract, develop, support and maximize the talent of student-athletes across all sponsored sports," Blossom said. "In addition to resources for revenue sharing and Name, Image and Likeness opportunities, top-tier facilities remain critical to maintaining a comprehensive athletics program that will serve the needs of our 300-plus student-athletes and take our teams to another level."
The multifaceted nature of the Sports Performance Center will have an immediate practical impact on all Creighton Athletics programs.
Currently, all 300-plus student-athletes must schedule workouts around a single weight room, located in the McDermott Center. This results in many teams being forced to use the facility as early as 5 a.m. or late into the evening. Spacing issues have likewise limited student-athletes' access to sports medicine, psychology services and academic advising. And unlike many universities, Creighton Athletics doesn't have a dedicated dining hall with nutritional services.
The Sports Performance Center will address all of this on day one, Blossom said.
"The new strength and conditioning center will ensure that student-athletes can work out at a reasonable hour while also juggling their classwork, practice and travel. The dining hall will provide a space for student-athletes from all programs to come together and form stronger bonds. And new, expanded areas throughout the Sports Performance Center will give them greater access to sports medicine, mental health services and the academic counseling that will help them maintain their spectacular grades." (The average GPA for Creighton student-athletes is 3.5.)
Women's basketball coach Jim Flanery said Fly Together and the Sports Performance Center build upon two decades of facility improvements for women's athletics, including the construction of the D.J. Sokol Arena (the home of Creighton women's basketball and volleyball, which opened in 2009) and the Ruth Scott Training Center (the practice facility for both programs, which opened in 2019).
"The Sports Performance Center and the other future upgrades to athletic facilities certainly come with a wow factor for recruits and their families," Flanery said. "But there's a deeper sustainability and retention piece to this, too. The center is going to be built on the same foundation as all of Creighton, which fosters the growth and development of individuals in every way.
"The Sports Performance Center is a statement from Creighton Athletics. It says that if you choose Creighton, we are going to give you an environment where you can thrive. We are going to help you tap into all parts of your being and unlock your full potential."
Elizabeth Gentry, a sophomore in the Heider College of Business and center on the women's basketball team, said she and her teammates are thrilled by the announcement of the Sports Performance Center and other facility upgrades.
"Even before these great new facility upgrades, women's athletics already gets so much more attention at Creighton compared to many schools," she said. "We know that Creighton and the coaches and fans are investing in our success and future, and that means everything to us — on our team and the volleyball team and other women's sports."
This summer, the Creighton volleyball coaching staff was allowed to start communicating with 2027 recruits, and they showed renderings of the Sports Performance Center and other Fly Together facility upgrades to their top prospects.
"We made offers to our three top recruits in that class, and all three committed," said Brian Rosen, volleyball head coach. "And the images of the Sport Performance Center and other facilities played a large part in their decision. They could see not only where Creighton is today, but where it will be when they get here."
More about the Sports Performance Center and Fly Together
JE Dunn is constructing the Sports Performance Center. The facility's design is a collaboration between Holland Basham Architects and the Portland, Oregon-based marketing agency GLGR (Gallagher). In addition to designing and building environments throughout the Heider College of Business, located in the Mike & Josie Harper Center, GLGR has worked with such brands as Nike, Fortnite and Dutch Brothers, helped Lady Gaga launch her beauty brand, and created the University of Oregon Marcus Mariota Sports Performance Center.
The Sports Performance Center will be located immediately west of The Ruth Scott Training Center. Named for longtime Creighton donor Ruth Scott, the practice space for volleyball and women's basketball will receive a new glass, interior-view façade.
Fly Together upgrades will also include a new Student Fitness Center, enhancements to the Rasmussen Fitness & Sports Center, and the creation of the Jaywalk. This new pedestrian thoroughfare will connect Creighton to the Builder's District, the rising urban village across 17th Street, anchored by Kiewit Corporation's headquarters.
For Creighton Athletics, Fly Together will include upgrades to the Ruth Scott Training Center, D.J. Sokol Arena, Ryan Athletic Center and the McDermott Center. A new accompanying team facility will complement the new baseball and softball fields. (Read more about Fly Together facility enhancements here.)
The Sports Performance Center and other Fly Together upgrades follow nearly a decade of campus enhancements, including renovations to the Mike and Josie Harper Center, home of the Heider College of Business, the CL and Rachel Werner Center for Health Sciences Education, and the Creighton Quad, which, when completed next year, will bring 5.7 acres of beautified green space to Creighton's core.
The Sports Performance Center will be the crown jewel of Creighton's emerging Athletic Village, a campus within a campus that will encompass the athletic facilities The Ruth Scott Training Center, D.J. Sokol Arena, Ryan Athletic Center, the McDermott Center and fields. The center will feature approximately 10,000 square feet of new strength and conditioning space, an outdoor training area, a dining hall catering to the specific nutritional needs of student-athletes, areas for academic advising, sports medicine, and psychology services, and gathering spaces that reflect the University's commitment to formation through community.
Creighton President the Rev. Daniel S. Hendrickson, SJ, PhD, said that the Sports Performance Center's design will embrace one of the University's core values: cura personalis, caring for the whole person — in this case, caring for the whole student-athlete.
"Student-athletes who come to Creighton want something more than athletics," Father Hendrickson said. "They want great academic programs. They want beautiful spaces. They want opportunities to develop spiritually. With the Sports Performance Center, so many essential aspects of the Creighton experience will now be available to all our student-athletes under one roof."
The Sports Performance Center is one of the first projects of Fly Together, a donor-funded initiative to reshape Creighton's 12-block athletic and recreational corridor with 11 new or upgraded facilities and outdoor spaces.
In September, the University announced the initiative with the largest gift in Creighton's history: $100 million from the Heider Family Foundation. The University has raised an additional $105 million from multiple early donors and will continue to raise funds to invest in Fly Together projects. Including the Heider Family Foundation, lead donors Don C. Scott, Linda and Larry Pearson, and CL and Rachel Werner supported the Sports Performance Center.
In the evolving landscape of college athletics, building elite facilities is one of the most effective ways Creighton can continue to compete for top recruiting prospects, said Marcus Blossom, McCormick Endowed Athletic Director.
"Fly Together, and in particular the Sports Performance Center, will attract, develop, support and maximize the talent of student-athletes across all sponsored sports," Blossom said. "In addition to resources for revenue sharing and Name, Image and Likeness opportunities, top-tier facilities remain critical to maintaining a comprehensive athletics program that will serve the needs of our 300-plus student-athletes and take our teams to another level."
The multifaceted nature of the Sports Performance Center will have an immediate practical impact on all Creighton Athletics programs.
Currently, all 300-plus student-athletes must schedule workouts around a single weight room, located in the McDermott Center. This results in many teams being forced to use the facility as early as 5 a.m. or late into the evening. Spacing issues have likewise limited student-athletes' access to sports medicine, psychology services and academic advising. And unlike many universities, Creighton Athletics doesn't have a dedicated dining hall with nutritional services.
The Sports Performance Center will address all of this on day one, Blossom said.
"The new strength and conditioning center will ensure that student-athletes can work out at a reasonable hour while also juggling their classwork, practice and travel. The dining hall will provide a space for student-athletes from all programs to come together and form stronger bonds. And new, expanded areas throughout the Sports Performance Center will give them greater access to sports medicine, mental health services and the academic counseling that will help them maintain their spectacular grades." (The average GPA for Creighton student-athletes is 3.5.)
Women's basketball coach Jim Flanery said Fly Together and the Sports Performance Center build upon two decades of facility improvements for women's athletics, including the construction of the D.J. Sokol Arena (the home of Creighton women's basketball and volleyball, which opened in 2009) and the Ruth Scott Training Center (the practice facility for both programs, which opened in 2019).
"The Sports Performance Center and the other future upgrades to athletic facilities certainly come with a wow factor for recruits and their families," Flanery said. "But there's a deeper sustainability and retention piece to this, too. The center is going to be built on the same foundation as all of Creighton, which fosters the growth and development of individuals in every way.
"The Sports Performance Center is a statement from Creighton Athletics. It says that if you choose Creighton, we are going to give you an environment where you can thrive. We are going to help you tap into all parts of your being and unlock your full potential."
Elizabeth Gentry, a sophomore in the Heider College of Business and center on the women's basketball team, said she and her teammates are thrilled by the announcement of the Sports Performance Center and other facility upgrades.
"Even before these great new facility upgrades, women's athletics already gets so much more attention at Creighton compared to many schools," she said. "We know that Creighton and the coaches and fans are investing in our success and future, and that means everything to us — on our team and the volleyball team and other women's sports."
This summer, the Creighton volleyball coaching staff was allowed to start communicating with 2027 recruits, and they showed renderings of the Sports Performance Center and other Fly Together facility upgrades to their top prospects.
"We made offers to our three top recruits in that class, and all three committed," said Brian Rosen, volleyball head coach. "And the images of the Sport Performance Center and other facilities played a large part in their decision. They could see not only where Creighton is today, but where it will be when they get here."
More about the Sports Performance Center and Fly Together
JE Dunn is constructing the Sports Performance Center. The facility's design is a collaboration between Holland Basham Architects and the Portland, Oregon-based marketing agency GLGR (Gallagher). In addition to designing and building environments throughout the Heider College of Business, located in the Mike & Josie Harper Center, GLGR has worked with such brands as Nike, Fortnite and Dutch Brothers, helped Lady Gaga launch her beauty brand, and created the University of Oregon Marcus Mariota Sports Performance Center.
The Sports Performance Center will be located immediately west of The Ruth Scott Training Center. Named for longtime Creighton donor Ruth Scott, the practice space for volleyball and women's basketball will receive a new glass, interior-view façade.
Fly Together upgrades will also include a new Student Fitness Center, enhancements to the Rasmussen Fitness & Sports Center, and the creation of the Jaywalk. This new pedestrian thoroughfare will connect Creighton to the Builder's District, the rising urban village across 17th Street, anchored by Kiewit Corporation's headquarters.
For Creighton Athletics, Fly Together will include upgrades to the Ruth Scott Training Center, D.J. Sokol Arena, Ryan Athletic Center and the McDermott Center. A new accompanying team facility will complement the new baseball and softball fields. (Read more about Fly Together facility enhancements here.)
The Sports Performance Center and other Fly Together upgrades follow nearly a decade of campus enhancements, including renovations to the Mike and Josie Harper Center, home of the Heider College of Business, the CL and Rachel Werner Center for Health Sciences Education, and the Creighton Quad, which, when completed next year, will bring 5.7 acres of beautified green space to Creighton's core.
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