Editor,

Both VCU and UR basketball teams plan to remain in their on-campus arenas even if a new 17,500-seat facility is built to replace the now shuttered Richmond Coliseum. They have made the correct decision.

The VCU Rams men’s basketball team has sold out the almost 8,000-seat Wade Arena in the Siegel Center 134 consecutive games since January 2011. Their winning percentage there is 86 percent.

The University of Richmond men’s basketball team, playing in the Robins Center’s 7,201-seat multipurpose arena, also enjoys the home court advantage only an on-campus location can bring.

Both facilities have been maintained and updated as appropriate. Duke University men’s basketball team, one of the best in the country for decades, plays in the 9,341-seat Cameron Indoor Stadium on campus; it opened in 1940. The Blue Devils have proven a college team can win numerous national championships without a huge home facility.

In these times when college athletic budgets seem out of control, it is refreshing to see these three outstanding universities place spending in proper perspective.

Robert N. Holt

Franklin