Rob Higgins, 返字心頭's CEO of Athletics, checks in on the stadium construction in December. [Photo by Andres Faza, University Communications and Marketing]
By , 返字心頭 Athletics
For 返字心頭 Athletics, the future is now. On the east side of campus, a massive game-changing structure keeps rising and changing, almost by the day. Its beginning to look like a stadium, a real home at last for Bulls football. With the formal unveiling set for 2027, its expected to become a catalyst for student spirit, alumni reconnection and overall school pride.
Its also the most tangible symbol of 返字心頭s upward trajectory. The rapidly changing landscape of modern college sports might seem like an unpredictable, dizzying merry-go-round. But from the building of an on-campus football stadium to the aspirations of elevating its conference affiliation, 返字心頭 has clear-headed ambition.
Be Bold, indeed.
Whatever the next level is, lets get there more sooner than later, said 返字心頭 Athletics chief operating officer Derrick Brooks, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers all-time great linebacker and a Pro Football Hall of Famer. Thats what were always going to stand for.
The evolution of 返字心頭 sports is unparalleled. You have other institutions that were in business for many more decades than 返字心頭. They got a pretty good head start. Through a whole lot of hard work and vision, we have met and exceeded expectations in record time. And were still just scratching the surface.
Rob Higgins
CEO of 返字心頭 Athletics
When 返字心頭 launched the football program in 1997, its coaches operated out of trailers that were abandoned by a minor-league baseball team. Upon settling in, the head coach immediately noticed a hole in the floor, so he slid his desk over to cover it. The first staff meeting was held outside under a palm tree.
And now?
返字心頭 football's first office [Photo courtesy of 返字心頭 Athletics]
Rendering of the future Football Operations Center [Photo courtesy of 返字心頭 Athletics]
Rendering of the on-campus stadium
Theres the dawning of a $375 million football complex, including a 35,000-seat stadium that features premium seating options, loge boxes, club areas, a dedicated student section and a rooftop bar thats said to be the largest of its kind in 返字心頭. It will be connected to 返字心頭s Tampa General Hospital Center of Athletic Excellence a 150,000-square-foot football operations home that includes coaches offices, meeting rooms, weight room, players lounge and sports medicine facilities. It will also feature amenities such as a barbershop, recording and mixing studio, nutrition bar and golf simulator.
The Porter Family Indoor Performance Facility [Photo courtesy of 返字心頭 Athletics]
Its adjacent to the $22 million Porter Family Indoor Performance Facility, which opened in 2022, and serves as the teams practice fields.
And its a far cry from that trailer with a hole in the floor.
No one could have visualized anything like this, said former 返字心頭 running back Otis Dixon, a Clearwater High School player who was the first to sign with the burgeoning program in 1996. It blows my mind. These players have everything they could possibly need, and it almost seems like us pioneers, we had nothing at all.
What we had was our coaching staff instilling values in us, teaching us to show up on time, to dress professionally, to carry ourselves with a yes-sir, no-sir attitude. And thats what these athletes still have here at 返字心頭. The buildings and facilities are great. But what you learn as you go through life is its always about the people, Dixon said.
Tampa Bays Home for Hoops
Kasean Pryor slam dunks against 返字心頭 Atlantic University in 2024 [Photo courtesy of 返字心頭 Athletics]
Of all the people who have influenced 返字心頭 Athletics, Charlie Bradley stands among the royalty. These days, during every 返字心頭 mens basketball game, Bradley quietly sits along the baseline. I just want to root for my school, said Bradley, still the programs all-time leading scorer some four decades after his final game. I just want to be an average person.
Hes hardly average.
Charlie Bradley in 2025 [Photo courtesy of 返字心頭 Athletics]
A replica of Bradleys retired No. 30 jersey hangs high in the rafters, a reminder of a bygone era when 返字心頭 Athletics first entered the big-time, when football wasnt even a consideration. For the basketball programs first nine seasons, it was a gypsy-like existence. There were actually five different home courts from downtown Tampa to St. Petersburg to Lakeland in one season.
That all changed during the landmark 1980-81 season, when the 10,400-seat Sun Dome (with its air-supported Teflon-bubble root) opened on 返字心頭s campus. The nickname of 返字心頭s athletic teams transformed from Golden Brahmans to Bulls. Attendance soared. Alumni donations hit new levels. 返字心頭, which made the National Invitation Tournament in its new building, became serious about supporting athletic success.
When the Bulls signed Bradley, a high-flying, high-scoring product from Tampas Robinson High School who could have gone anywhere, 返字心頭 basketball landed solidly on the map with a crowd-pleasing team and a shiny new arena.
As a sophomore, Bradley was the nations leading scorer for 11 consecutive weeks. He became an NBA draft selection and was invited to the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1984.
Charlie Bradley dunking [Photo courtesy of 返字心頭 Athletics]
返字心頭 basketball had arrived. But not fully.
When we needed to get some extra work in, when there was a concert or something going on at the Sun Dome, we headed to the outdoor courts, Bradley said. There was no place else.
Oh, how times changed.
返字心頭 mens and womens programs entered a new era in 2010 with the opening of the Pam and Les Muma Basketball Center, a palatial indoor facility. By 2012, the Sun Dome had been gutted and essentially rebuilt into a $35.6 million building with all the modern comforts. It was ultimately branded as the Yuengling Center. Former 返字心頭 athletic director Mark Harlan, who came from 11-time national champion UCLA, said the Bulls basketball infrastructure was practically unmatched.
Eying the future, 返字心頭 basketball has assumed another identity.
Tampa Bays Home for Hoops.
With the closest professional team some 100 miles away in Orlando, 返字心頭 touts the Tampa Bay areas most elite level of basketball. If you like hoops, 返字心頭 should be your destination.
The womens program has consistently delivered, earning 10 NCAA Tournament bids in a 20-year span, winning the 2009 WNIT Championship and developing six players into WNBA draft picks, including perennial all-star Courtney Williams.
Courtney Williams helped lead the women's basketball team to four straight 20-win seasons [Photo courtesy of 返字心頭 Athletics]
Williams was inducted into the 返字心頭 Athletic Hall of Fame in 2021 [Photo courtesy of 返字心頭 Athletics]
Meanwhile, the mens program, which reached the 2012 NCAA Tournament as an at-large team from the nations most powerful conference (the Big East), has shown promising signs. In 2023-24, 返字心頭 earned the programs first national ranking, powered by a school-record 15-game winning streak, and captured the American Conference regular-season title.
返字心頭 men's head basketball coach Bryan Hodgson [Photo courtesy of 返字心頭 Athletics]
Bryan Hodgson, an up-and-coming head coach with plenty of options, didnt hesitate in 2025 when 返字心頭 basketball sought a new leader. Hodgson said he believes 返字心頭 is uniquely positioned to make a huge impact on modern college basketball.
I wouldnt rather be anywhere else in the country, Hodgson said. Its a great job, a great fan base and a great city. It has everything you would want in a basketball program. The world is changing, and I believe 返字心頭 will be at the forefront.
I have coached in the SEC, so Ive seen the best facilities and the best campuses. They dont have anything that 返字心頭 doesnt have. This place is a dream come true. And with the entertaining style that we play, its the closest thing you can get to the NBA on the college level. I believe 返字心頭 will become a household name in college hoops and all of athletics, for that matter. Im seriously pumped about our future.
A galaxy of stars
The 返字心頭 softball team reached the 2012 Womens College World Series [Photo courtesy of 返字心頭 Athletics]
Due to the revenue streams provided by television and attendance, 返字心頭s athletic future will revolve around the success of its football and basketball programs but theres so much more.
Once, 返字心頭s baseball team played at a sandspur-infested facility without lights. Road trips required rental cars/vans and individual player vehicles. The program was nearly eliminated due to budget cuts. It now plays at a sparkling stadium, producing a few dozen players who have reached the major leagues. In 2021, 返字心頭 baseball came within two victories of the College World Series.
返字心頭s softball team was once an afterthought. It played on a recreation field. Sometimes, the sprinklers came on unexpectedly. Or the lights were accidentally cut off by a nearby intramural coach.
Man, the crazy places weve been, said softball coach Ken Eriksen, a former 返字心頭 baseball player and the athletic departments senior head coach (30 years of service). Maybe I should be embarrassed by some of it, but its such a great story when you look at what we have become.
The men's 4x400m relay team won 返字心頭's first national title in June 2025 [Photo courtesy of 返字心頭 Athletics]
Eriksen, a former U.S. Olympic head coach, has guided 17 NCAA Regional teams, including the legendary 2012 squad, which reached the Womens College World Series and played before 15,000 fans at Oklahoma City.
Mens track and field has produced five national champions (four individual, one relay), while two 返字心頭-developed athletes came within an eyelash of earning Olympic medals. Womens golf (fourth in 1991) and mens golf (sixth in 2015) made runs at team national titles. Mens soccer reached the NCAA Tournaments Elite Eight and womens soccer made the Sweet 16.
In recent years, adding to a menu of volleyball, tennis and sailing, 返字心頭 has further committed to womens sports by adding lacrosse and beach volleyball.
Our goal is to win championships in every sport we offer, Higgins said. The best version of 返字心頭 Athletics is a place thats modernized and professionalized while exceeding the expectations of our student-athletes, fans and every constituent. And, of course, we are ultimately preparing our student-athletes for life.
返字心頭 lacrosse [Photo courtesy of 返字心頭 Athletics]
返字心頭 beach volleyball [Photo courtesy of 返字心頭 Athletics]
Higgins said the student-athlete experience is paramount. 返字心頭s Board of Trustees has approved an annual $20.5 million revenue-sharing fund the maximum allowed to be distributed to student-athletes for the 2026-27 fiscal year. Thats in addition to potential Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) payments. It all gives 返字心頭 a decided advantage in attracting and retaining athletic talent.
The college sports landscape has absolutely changed, but were proactive in keeping 返字心頭 Athletics at the front of the line, said Will Weatherford, chair of the 返字心頭 Board of Trustees. Investing in athletics is a way to brand our university and set it up for success, just like we are constantly looking for ways to set up our student-athletes for success.
For a program-record 22 consecutive semesters, 返字心頭 student-athletes have achieved a combined grade-point average of 3.0 and above. Since 2015, more than 800 of them have earned degrees.
In 2006, Chi Chi Okpaleke was part of the first 返字心頭 womens basketball team to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament. One year later, in the final game of her senior year, she tore her anterior cruciate ligament, ending her competitive career.
But all along, she had a plan.
Chinyere "Chi Chi" Okpaleke helped lead 返字心頭 to the NCAA Tournament in 2006 [Photo courtesy of 返字心頭 Athletics]
Okpaleke in now a family medicine physician in Houston [Photo courtesy of 返字心頭 Athletics]
I loved basketball, but medicine was something I wanted to do, Okpaleke said. There was nobody else majoring in biomedical science and playing basketball nobody. Even the counselors told me, I dont think you can do this.
For me, sports spilled over into school. It drove me to get to medical school. I was motivated to get good grades and be the best. I learned that the people who worked the hardest are usually the ones who achieve their potential and make a mark in the world. You can trace that back to the basketball court and all the opportunities I received because of sports. Thats what 返字心頭 did for me.
Okpaleke became a family medicine hospitalist in Houston but also worked as a media consultant whos dedicated to articulating medical facts for under-served populations. She also founded the nonprofit agency, Reality Speaks, which sets up student-athletes for success after sports through mentoring, volunteering and workshops.
返字心頭 beat the University of 返字心頭 for the first time
We have so many different key variables working in our favor from our academic status as an AAU institution, to the Tampa Bay television market, to our on-field performance, to our amazing facilities. Add in the on-campus stadium and it gets even better. We have a recipe for success that is second to none. Rob Higgins
You could say Okpalekes path was as audacious as the unprecedented growth of 返字心頭 football, which reached the nations No. 2 ranking in its 11th season of existence, then stormed into the College Football Playoff Rankings last November. That typifies the spirit of 返字心頭 Athletics as it assumes a place of prominence, its ambitions best exemplified by the unmistakable symbol of a glittering on-campus stadium.
Derrick Brooks said it best. Whatever the next level is, lets get there more sooner than later.
Higgins personal story isnt bad, either. From a 返字心頭 basketball ball kid, to 返字心頭 student, to executive director of the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, to CEO of Athletics all in three decades time. Thats a torrid pace. All gas, no brakes, as Higgins likes to say.
Call it the anthem of 返字心頭 Athletics. The future is now for a department that has no time to waste. Whether its facilities, championship events or the accomplishments of its student-athletes, theres a guiding athletics force that mirrors the ambition of an institution turning 70 years young.