The Warehouse

by Basketball John on Apr 10, 2009 10:43 AM MDT Comment 1 comment

Steve Luhm has a good post up today concerning his visit to Spokane to visit John Stockton. What was suppose to be a real-estate investment has turned into a huge basketball facility located right next the the Gonzaga campus. John explains:

"It was purchased as an investment," Stockton said. "... A real estate friend of mine said, 'I can get something for you, turn it over in a short period of time and it'll be a good investment.' I said, 'O.K.'"

Stockton expected to re-sell the building within six months, but almost two years later, it was still his property. He recalls asking his real estate friend, "Why do I still have this?"

About that time, Stockton had a discussion with Scott Cates who, while living in Salt Lake, helped build the state-of-the-art athletic complex at Cottonwood High and, in the process, turned the school's program into one of the most successful in Utah.

"He did a lot for my kids, as far as learning how to participate and learning how to compete," Stockton said. "Finally, one day I asked him how he did those things at Cottonwood and whether it could work with this building. He said,' Simple -- bing, bing, bing. And it will be unbelievable.'"

It also is home to a court that the Jazz use to own and that Larry H Miller gave to Stockton. Here's the only pic I could find on their website of it: