Green & Mold won over Pam Muma

Posted Mar 3, 2010 by Scott Carter

Updated Mar 4, 2010 at 02:01 AM

In a historic moment here on our little Shootin’ the Bull blog, we attended our first groundbreaking ceremony this afternoon at USF.

USF officials, including president Judy Genshaft, athletic director Doug Woolard, and basketball coaches Stan Heath and Jose Fernandez, were on hand to break ground for the Muma Basketball Center.

The facility is named after Pam and Les Muma, who also attended and spoke to the crowd. They donated $3 million to the project in March 2008.

In fact, the Mumas were my favorite portion of the show.

The way the story goes, Les Muma was behind donating lots of money to the project soon after talking with Woolard and Heath about how much a practice facility would mean to USF.

Pam wasn’t so sure. So, Les had her go over to the Sun Dome and meet with Woolard and Heath.

Once Pam saw Heath’s outdated and cramped office in the Sun Dome’s underbelly, she was sold.

“I had never been behind the scenes until Doug and Stan said come visit our offices,’’ Pam Muma said. “Well, let me tell you what, after looking at the offices, the locker rooms and the facilities, it didn’t take a lot for me to be convinced that this was a necessary thing.

“When Stan showed me his green and gold carpet—and the green was very pretty—but it wasn’t the green and gold of USF, it was the mold. I really decided then that it was a necessary project.’‘

Les Muma could finally pull out his wallet.

“Every dime Pam and I give, she has 50-percent vote, and I have 50-percent vote,’’ Les said. “So I knew I needed to win her over, because this was more than a dime.

“Thank God we staged this mold thing.’‘

Les was joking, of course. We think.

“This has been a team effort to make this thing happen,’’ Les Muma said.