This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Provo • Plans were already in the works for a basketball practice facility on the BYU campus a few years ago, but it took an assist from the school's all-time leading scorer to really get the project off the ground.

Because 2,720-point scorer Tyler Haws, now playing professionally in Spain, doesn't understand the meaning of the term "office hours," BYU broke ground on the previously announced Marriott Center Annex on Monday, perhaps sooner than most people expected.

The 38,000-square foot project's cost was not divulged, but school officials said it will connect to the east of the Marriott Center, replacing the road that runs between the basketball arena and BYU Broadcasting Building, and is scheduled to be completed in October of 2016.

It will be built by the Wadman Corporation of Ogden and will simply be known as the Marriott Center Annex. It could be referred to as the Gym Ty Helped Build, because Haws famously was turned away from practicing at other basketball facilities on campus when the Marriott Center was not available several times during his record-breaking career.

"When Tyler Haws came back from his mission, I first started to see the vision," BYU president Kevin Worthen said. "Tyler doesn't understand office hours because he was trying to find any place to practice and there were literally times when there was no place on campus where he could practice. At that point, I got a lot more interested in this project because [Haws] showed a commitment to excellence and we had a responsibility to make sure his preparation was excellent, so he could go on and compete with the best in his field."

With most of his players watching the proceedings Monday, BYU basketball coach Dave Rose got a little teary-eyed as he described how he was first told of the plans in the spring of 2011 but asked to keep it to himself and how he received a "generous lead gift" from primary donors Ruth and Rex Maughan.

"Sixteen hundred days later, here we are," Rose said, crediting his wife, Cheryl, for the way she "took this as a personal project for herself" and wanted it to happen as well.

"She cried then. I'm crying now," the coach said.

BYU's women's basketball program will share the facility, but the Cougar women and coach Jeff Judkins were traveling to Hawaii on Monday for a tournament and unable to attend the groundbreaking.

Holmoe said more than 30 donors made the project happen, and the money had to be in the bank before BYU administrators would allow construction to begin. Senior Associate Athletic Director Brian Santiago, who oversees men's basketball, said several former BYU players, "some well-known and some lesser-known," also donated.

Dave and Cheryl Rose contributed money for the project as well, Santiago said.

Santiago said administrators traveled throughout the western U.S. and looked at between 15-20 buildings but in the end wanted to create something unique to BYU.

"The look and feel of it is a BYU look and feel," he said. "We weren't trying to match anybody's look and feel. This is a BYU facility that ties into what we do."

As for the location, Rose and Santiago said three or four other places on campus were considered, but the connecting the facility to the Marriott Center was ultra-important to them.

"They would have all been great, but this is the greatest," Rose said.

The Annex will feature a replica of the floor in the Marriott Center, which was recently renovated to include thousands more padded blue seats and a $4 million scoreboard.

It will include a strength and conditioning center, a training room with hydrotherapy, office suites, a kitchen, meeting rooms, team lounge and study areas and a hall of honor showcasing BYU's basketball history and tradition.

Rose said the new facility shows the commitment of BYU's Board of Trustees to maintaing a strong athletic program.

"The commitment has been 100 percent since the day I got here," said the 11-year coach who signed a contract extension last spring. "I've never seen any indication that the university and the athletic administration isn't totally committed to the athletic department and our basketball program. Outwardly, this shows that to others. The whole project over the summer to renovate the Marriott Center [has made] it as nice a facility as there is in the country — professional, amateur or collegiate, and it shows quite a commitment from everybody here."

Santiago said BYU would like to show off the new-look Marriott Center and Annex by hosting NCAA Tournament games, but lack of hotel rooms and hotel space in the Provo area is keeping that from happening. He said BYU has submitted a bid to be the host school for NCAA Tournament games at the Utah Jazz's arena in Salt Lake City.

Twitter: @drewjay —

BYU at Utah

P Wednesday, 8 p.m.

TV • Pac-12 Networks