Fans will enjoy new TRC arena

When it opens today, the Libla Family Sports Complex will usher in a new era for the Three Rivers College athletics program. The state-of-the-art arena will be a whole new ballgame for fans and the college.

Gene Bess Court is at the center of $10.5 million project that took a little over three years to complete after nearly a decade of planning.

It’s not completely finished and there’s a lot of moving to be done and issues to tackle (parking), but the foundation for the future is set atop a hill on the 80-acre Three Rivers campus.

The first campus was a downtown storefront in the summer of 1967.

The basketball team that winter was coached by Bob Cradic, who chose the Raiders nickname. They lost the first game by a point but ended up 19-8 that first year. For the first 15 seasons the Raiders didn’t have a home. The team practiced where they could, many times at the Sears Youth Center north of town, and games were held at the new E.T. “Pete” Peters Gym at Poplar Bluff High School.

“Those early pioneers of the college laid the groundwork so that we could be successful,” Gene Bess once said. “They showed great wisdom in the way they approached this new junior college. I have obviously prospered from that down through the years.”

Bess joined the program as an assistant coach and was promoted for the 1970-71 season, leading the Raiders to two national tournament appearances in three seasons. The Raider Rooters started filling Peters Gym, which quickly became a tough place to play for opponents. Over the final six seasons there, Three Rivers was 81-4 at home, winning its final 68 “home” games.

The new arena is set up like Peters Gym with fans entering the building atop the stands that surround the court below.

When it opened for the 1982-83 season, the Bess Activity Center gave Three Rivers a home on campus. A large banner read “We’re home at last!!!” as the Raiders beat the Senegal National team 82-47. The Raiders played 507 games at the BAC and won 85 percent of the time.

The college expanded the athletic program with volleyball and women’s basketball. The Lady Raiders basketball team had its first game in the winter of 1981.

Black and gold banners for both the men’s and women’s teams now hang from the rafters and walls all over the old gym. The Raiders added a second national title banner in 1992, going undefeated at home that season, and were running out of room to hang new ones.

There’s plenty of room at the Libla Family Sports Complex.

The new facility also features an area for a weight room, trainer’s room, meeting room, locker rooms and four offices for the coaches. Players can run inside around the concourse on both levels instead of grueling afternoon runs in the heat at Bacon Park. It’s located next to the baseball and softball fields, which also have their own clubhouse buildings.

The scoreboard is state-of-the-art, a trip to the restroom will be quicker than a full timeout and the concession stand is front and center for fans to find something to help enjoy the game. The stands are closer to the action than at the Black River Coliseum, where the Raiders were 63-8 during a seven-year stretch, and seating will be an improvement over the old wooden bleachers at the BAC, where the Raiders once had a string of 48 straight wins and the Lady Raiders claimed their second region championship.

The new complex will also be a benefit to the rest of the college as a venue for graduation and opening up the BAC for events and student use.

The new home of the Raiders is almost complete. It’s just missing one minor thing, the same thing that has made the college and its programs a success for over 50 years — the people of this community.

We look forward to seeing how loud can it get in there.

— Daily American Republic