Villanova's Pavilion needs a name

The Pavilion needs a name. It deserves a name. It had one, of course, but Villanova removed that name in 1997. You don't know why? Catch Foxcatcher if it's still at a theater near you.

Once John du Pont's name was removed from the building - the money he'd promised largely un-donated after Villanova had dropped his renegade wrestling program after just two years - CoreStates seriously kicked the tires on paying to put its name on the place. This was in the '90s, when there still was a CoreStates, before it was bought by another bank which merged with another bank and was then bought by yet another bank. The name changes at the arena in South Philly could have happened at Villanova.

At the time, CoreStates executives were concerned the bank was not going to get enough bang for its buck since Villanova takes its marquee games to what's now known as the Wells Fargo Center.

The bank folks wondered if they would get enough advertising juice for the remaining games. Their counteroffer was to blanket Villanova's campus with the CoreStates name. (These days, most every game is on television, so maybe that negotiation would have produced a deal under current conditions.)

Villanova is planning a major renovation of the Pavilion. That isn't news to 'Nova fans. They've been advertising it on screens before basketball games and pushing it as part of a fund-raising campaign. If that was a disappointment to those hoping a new arena would be built, the realities of life in Radnor made a new place unlikely at best. Unfortunately, the Pavilion as a fixer-upper makes the most sense.

"The building is maybe beyond its life cycle," said Villanova athletic director Vince Nicastro.

Will it get a name this time?

"We've certainly had discussions, preliminary discussions, with prospective individual donors," Nicastro said.

That's the likely route, following the path of Michael J. Hagan Arena at St. Joseph's, obviously looking to avoid the du Pont pitfall. Looking back, Villanova could have had a basketball name grace the building for the last two decades, à la Tom Gola, a route that would not have required a revenue stream.

But that could have caused problems at 'Nova, since there have been different eras of greatness. If I advocate for the humble Hall of Famer Paul Arizin, the '71 guys would say, "What about us?" And the '85 group has the best case of all.

Might be better to leave all that alone, with no dollars coming from it anyway - unless Kyle Lowry wants to write a big check. (Think about it, @klow7; it would be pretty cool driving over to your own building.)

Speaking of Arizin, late Inquirer co-owner Lewis Katz once made a proposal to Villanova. He wanted to donate money for a statue outside the Pavilion of his boyhood hero, Arizin. An interesting offer from a Temple graduate. The idea went up the food chain, and, according to several sources, it got knocked down by higher-ups, above athletics. The reason given: They don't put up statues of sports figures.

They'll put names on buildings, of course, assuming the pledge is large enough. Virtually every university will do that. I kind of like the name endorsed by vuhoops.com: Wawa. That website, which closely covers Villanova sports, is advocating for an entirely new arena with a Pavilion renovation as the backup.

Either way, the Wawa Pavilion could introduce a new feel-good era for Villanova. Put hazelnut coffee stations in the lobby and touch screens on the back of every seat so fans can order hoagies while they're grousing over real-time stats. A win-win for everybody. And it probably wouldn't be made into a major motion picture.

In the meantime, it all stays generic.

"We feel like it would have to be intertwined with some significant improvement to the building to make it more meaningful," Nicastro said of any name change.

@jensenoffcampus