Aces bring camp, renovated facilities to UNLV’s Cox Pavilion

Aces rookie and former UNLV guard Brooke Johnson admitted the locker rooms inside Cox Pavilion were “a little bit of a downer” during her tenure with the Lady Rebels.

Not anymore.

The Aces and MGM Resorts International committed to renovating the locker and training rooms adjacent to the practice court inside Cox Pavilion, where they’ll practice for the foreseeable future.

And the early returns are spectacular.

The training room features new lights, tile, flooring, ice machines, cold tubs and refrigerators. The locker room is also equipped with spacious rolldown lockers for the Aces and future Lady Rebels.

A new film room is under construction and the bathrooms will be renovated. But the improvements are more than good enough for Johnson, who completed her UNLV career in March.

“It’s 100 times better,” Johnson said after Aces practice Monday. “It’s really nice to see the improvements being made. I think even the new recruits and the teammates that are still going to be here will really love it.”

The Aces originally hoped to construct their own practice facility, president of basketball operations and head coach Bill Laimbeer said, but those ambitions were unrealistic given the time frame.

They scouted existing facilities in the area, before deciding on UNLV in March. Renovations began after the college basketball season so Cox Pavilion could be ready for Aces training camp, which began Sunday.

Costs of the project were not disclosed.

“It just seemed to be the natural thing to do,” Laimbeer said. “We want to take care of the women’s programs … Sometimes in the sporting world, the ladies get the short end of the stick. We want to make sure it was nice for them.”

Laimbeer said the Aces still hope to construct a practice facility, but Lady Rebels basketball players, volleyball players and golfers will have the new locker and training rooms regardless of where the pro team practices.

“The partnership we have with MGM and the Aces, it’s absolutely huge,” UNLV women’s basketball coach Kathy Olivier said. “They’ve been very helpful, and we’ve been very helpful. It’s a win-win situation.”

More Aces: Follow all of our Aces coverage online at reviewjournal.com/aces and @RJ_Sports on Twitter.

Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.