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Every Tuesday at 11 a.m. on BYU campus, music plays from the bell tower and students file into the Marriott Center for the weekly Devotional, where they have the opportunity to listen to Church leaders, university professors and government officials.
At the last Devotional, students listened to Damon L. Bahr of the David O. McKay School of Education faculty. Bahr’s address, titled, “The Unique Opportunities of Living at This Time in This Dispensation,” uplifted and inspired the audience spiritually.
Eight hours later, students once again filled the Marriott Center to be uplifted and inspired. This time, however, it was to be inspired by the BYU men’s basketball team.
The Cougars hosted BYU-Hawaii in its home season opener and won 73-52 in front of about 13,000 fans.
Hosting two events in the same venue made for a busy day for BYU’s event and custodial staff. For the Devotional, the staff must set up a podium and a stand where school officials sit. There are no basketball hoops or scoreboards or much anything else that would make one think they are in a gym. Only a few hours later, it’s hard to imagine the arena could be anything but a gym.
Because of the weekly Devotionals, whenever a home basketball game falls on a Tuesday, Marriott Center supervisor Mike Averett knows he has a lot of work ahead.
“It’s a close timeline,” Averett said. “The Devotional ends at noon and the team comes in here at 1:30 to start practicing so we have to have everything stripped down and ready for that. We also have to be ready for the game in the night so we keep doing things while they’re running their practice.”
Although Averett and his staff are noticed by few, they are appreciated by many.
Averett’s staff does more than just clean up after the approximately 5,000 students who attend Devotionals. They also set up and take down for CES firesides, stake conferences, graduations and other events in the Marriott Center. After each events, even if there is no game, they always turn the arena back into a basketball gym for the team to practice in.
Steve Morrin, a freshman from Alpine studying exercise science, attended both the Devotional and the basketball game last Tuesday. He thinks the Marriott Center is a perfect venue for both and is grateful to have both kinds of events at BYU.
“I feel like the Devotionals are very insightful and the basketball games are way fun,” he said. “The Marriott Center is so big and offers so much seating for fans, so in basketball, the teams get a lot of support. I also had my high school graduation here, so I’ve seen how organized it is when other things are happening here.”
Although the activities that take place on a typical Tuesday in the Marriott Center differ, the outcome can be the same for those who attend.
“I think the events are very similar in a way,” Morrin said. “When you go to the Devotional, you are given thoughts on how to improve yourself spiritually and at the basketball game, you watch these athletes who are trying to be at the top of their game and trying to be the best they can at what they do. And that is very inspiring as well.”
This week there is no BYU Devotional, but the basketball team takes the court again tonight. During the week of Thanksgiving, Averett and his staff can be grateful for that.
“It doesn’t happen very often, but those Tuesdays are nice,” Averett said.
