Zone or man-to-man?

Devaney Center or new downtown arena?

While Nebraska men’s basketball coach Doc Sadler ponders one question, athletic director Steve Pederson is weighing the other.

Earlier this week, Pederson said officials were “pretty much in the heart of discussions” about what a proposed downtown arena for Lincoln might look like, and ultimately, if it would make sense for the Huskers to one day play their basketball games there.

Where Nebraska will call home likely won’t be answered until a consultant’s study is complete and project leaders, including Pederson, know just what’s on the table.

“That’s a pretty key element,” Pederson said. “What’s it really going to look like?

“Certainly, we want Lincoln to have a new downtown arena, but what we don’t want to do is either financially or operationally put us in a tough spot.”

As things stand now, Nebraska is in a strong position, Pederson says, in large part because the Devaney Center is paid for and because the athletic department has control over scheduling.

But the Devaney, a facility that opened in 1976, is in need of “sprucing up,” Pederson said. And without sparkling, dedicated practice facilities like those going up on campuses across the country, the men’s and women’s basketball programs at NU are also at a recruiting disadvantage.

Sadler, coming off his first season, said it’s natural for people to get excited when they hear about something new.

“I can only talk about the Devaney Center, and I like the Devaney Center,” Sadler said earlier this summer. “The biggest problem we have is we need to fill it. Once we fill it, then it’s a great place.”

Nebraska averaged 10,584 for home games last season at the 13,595-seat Devaney Center. It drew 4,110, on average, for women’s games.

Pederson said if one moves, he’d prefer to see both basketball programs play in the new arena.

Among the dilemmas in making that decision is the scheduling aspect. Pederson points out that as August nears, Nebraska has yet to set its men’s and women’s schedules for this winter.

And then there’s the size question. If you build the arena too big, you risk losing revenue from potential season ticket-holders who instead elect to buy tickets only for the specific games they want to see.

“If Lincoln could afford to build 24,000 seats, you wouldn’t want it,” said Stan Meradith, an architect with the DLR Group. “What you have to hit is the supply and demand peak of the curve.”

Consultants will analyze such things as potential corporate involvement and median income within the market, figures that will be key in determining how many suites to include, how many club seats to reserve, and most important, the size of the arena itself.

This is all assuming, of course, that funding for the project comes together. Lincoln Chamber of Commerce president Wendy Birdsall said plans can move forward with or without Nebraska’s teams as tenants but cautioned that many decisions hinge on completion of the feasibility study sometime this fall.

“Until that’s done, it’s not necessary to make anybody sign on the dotted line,” Birdsall said. “It’s simply too soon.”

Reach Todd Henrichs at 473-7320 or thenrichs@journalstar.com.