Seattle University off on fast break

A long-term arena lease between the city of Seattle and Seattle University has yet to be finalized, but that didn't stop Mayor Greg Nickels from rolling out the red carpet for the school's men's basketball team.

"Welcome home, Redhawks," Nickels said Monday while standing on a makeshift stage at KeyArena. "It's been too long."

After a 29-year absence, Seattle U. takes its first significant steps to becoming a full-fledged Division I athletic program this season. The basketball team plays a hybrid schedule filled with Division I and II opponents this season including a Jan. 1 date with Loyola Marymount — the same team against which it played its last game in Division I in 1980 — at the Key during the first year of a five-year reclassification period.

If all requirements are met, SU becomes a full Division I member at the start of the 2012-13 season.

Former Seattle U. guard Carl Ervin said "this is a "landmark day" as SU alumni dreamed about a bright future and reveled in their past.

Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days" blared over the loudspeaker as Nickels, President Father Stephen Sundborg, coach Joe Callero, senior guard Shaun Burl, Lenny Wilkens, NBA Hall of Famer and former SU trustee, and Ervin celebrated during a rally featuring cheerleaders and the school's feathered mascot, Rudy the Redhawk.

"We're back in the game folks," Sundborg said.

The Redhawks, formerly the Chieftans, played home games at KeyArena, which was formerly the Coliseum. The school drew 14,253 fans in 1967 for a game against Texas Western. This season, SU will tarp off the upper section of the 17,072-seat arena and seat 7,000 for the New Year's Day game.

Sundborg said the private Jesuit university plans to move home games out of the 1,000-seat Connolly Center and is close to finalizing a multiyear deal to secure KeyArena as its home court.

"You talk to our students, and they'd love to play in KeyArena," he said. "They're not looking for a renovated arena. This is big time for them. And that's a big recruiting pitch. As it stands, it's a perfect size and I think it would be a perfect relationship."

Nickels echoed the sentiments.

Landing the Redhawks is vital as the city scrambles to fill replacement dates for the Sonics, who moved to Oklahoma City, and the junior hockey team Seattle Thunderbirds, who will soon move to the Kent Events Center.

"We're beginning that process of getting back to exciting basketball at KeyArena," Nickels said. "Seattle has been a great basketball town for a long time even before the Sonics. So we think this will keep that tradition alive, and we'll see what happens in the next couple of years."

Since agreeing to a $45 million settlement with the then-Sonics' owners, Nickels said the city hasn't had contact with the NBA about returning to Seattle. He also said there's been no significant progress toward a proposed $300 million KeyArena renovation.

"We've had some conversations with [state lawmakers], but obviously they're all focused on the elections that's two weeks from [Tuesday]," Nickels said. "We'll really be veering up between then and when the session begins in January.

"We're going to do everything we can to educate the legislators to the importance of this arena and the importance of having that dedicated revenue available should another NBA team become available."

It's possible the relationship between Seattle U. and the city of Seattle could be a short one.

"I have said at times that before I finish as president I would like to beat Gonzaga on our own home court at Seattle University," Sundborg said. "But that's kind of like John Kennedy wanting to go to the moon. All of that will depend upon how we develop the program. What kind of winning program we get and what kind of attendance we get."

Still there's been no serious discussion about building an arena on campus.

Sundborg also said former SU basketball great Elgin Baylor is supportive of the school's move to Division I. The school's most famous alum may return to Seattle for the Jan. 1 game.

Percy Allen: 206-464-2278 or pallen@seattletimes.com