Connecticut introduces new practice facility
Connecticut's new practice facility, the Werth Family UConn Basketball Champions Center, was introduced today.
The University of Connecticut is opening a new practice facility, one that will allow both the men's and women's teams to practice simultaneously instead of having to share court time.
The Werth Family UConn Basketball Champions Center is the first building on school grounds to have been financed entirely by private donations, according to the release by the school:
The UConn Basketball Champions Center was dedicated today in the name of Peter J. and Pamela H. Werth, who made an initial multimillion pledge to launch the building project and followed that with a second gift that coincides with the opening of the new practice and training home for the Huskies’ championship basketball programs.
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The 75,000-plus square-foot building features complete facilities for the men’s and women’s championship basketball programs. The center includes common areas designed for academic support, sports medicine and strength training, along with separate practice gyms, locker rooms, coaches’ offices, meeting rooms and video analysis facilities.
Upon entering the Werth Family UConn Basketball Champions Center, the lobby will feature a display of NCAA trophies representing the four men’s championships and the nine women’s titles. On each side of the main lobby leading to the women’s and men’s practice areas, visitors will be greeted by floor-to-ceiling images of two iconic Huskies representing each program –Maya Moore and Ray Allen.
It would come as a surprise that a program with such an illustrious basketball history didn't have a facility prior to this that would allow both the men and women to practice at the same time. UConn is the only school to have won dual national championships in the same season, and it has now done it twice in the past decade. This is a well-deserved reward for its efforts.
And of course, both Geno Auriemma and Kevin Ollie will be pleased by this development not only from the standpoint of getting court time whenever they want it, but also from a recruiting standpoint. Getting to show off a state-of-the-art practice facility certainly never hurts when you're trying to recruit youngsters to your school.
