UConn's new $40M, 76,000-square-foot basketball practice facility "has a name: the Werth Family UConn Basketball Champions Center, dedicated in honor" of a family whose $4.7M pledge in December '11 "kicked off the drive to construct the facility," according to Paul Doyle of the HARTFORD COURANT. UConn booster Peter Werth "was honored during a ceremony with donors and alumni inside the women's practice gymnasium Friday." UConn officials said that $33.5M "has been raised," and the remainder "will come from donors." It is the "first UConn construction project funded entirely by donations." The final piece of fundraising "will help complete the facility, which still lacks graphics, signage and banners." A large image of UConn alum Ray Allen "greets visitors in the lobby of the men's side of the facility," while the women's side "features a floor-to-ceiling mural" of UConn alum and WNBA Lynx G Maya Moore. Allen and Moore were "chosen by the coaching staffs to represent each program." The staffs are "still working with UConn officials on images and signage that will hang throughout the facility." Championship banners "will hang in the gyms and championship trophies will adorn the main shared lobby, but each program will likely highlight different things -- NBA alums will be featured by the men's program, nine NCAA titles by the women." The venue is "divided, with the women's program on the left side and the men's on the right side." Both programs "have offices, meeting rooms, film rooms, locker rooms and a full 11,900-square foot gym with eight baskets in each court." The programs in the past have "shared Gampel Pavilion as a practice facility" (HARTFORD COURANT, 10/18).
