{"id":97476,"date":"2014-10-17T16:32:12","date_gmt":"2014-10-17T20:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=97476"},"modified":"2015-08-11T15:31:49","modified_gmt":"2015-08-11T19:31:49","slug":"uconn-basketball-training-center-named-for-longtime-supporters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2014\/10\/uconn-basketball-training-center-named-for-longtime-supporters\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn Basketball Champions Center Named for Longtime Supporters"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"UConn<\/a>
UConn supporters applaud the naming of the Werth Family UConn Basketball Champions Center during a dedication ceremony on Oct. 17, as the women’s and men’s teams look on from the balcony after unfurling the banner. (Stephen Slade ’89 (SFA)\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\u2019 championship basketball programs.<\/p>\n

The two donations, totaling $7 million, were critical for the project, the first University building financed entirely with private donations. The new $40 million basketball training facility is adjacent to the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, the campus home of the 2014 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball championship teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe the Werth Family UConn Basketball Champions Center is the key to sustaining UConn\u2019s tradition of great basketball,\u201d said Coleman Levy \u201961 (CLAS), \u201962 MA, \u201966 JD, chairman of the UConn Foundation Board of Directors.<\/p>\n

\u201cBuilt solely with private donations, the Werth Family UConn Basketball Champions Center is a real tribute to the steadfastness of our friends and alumni and their willingness to support UConn\u2019s transformation and vision for the future,\u201d he added. The Werths’ latest gift of $2.3 million followed their previous $4.7 million pledge.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
An interior view of one of the practice gyms at the Werth Family UConn Basketball Champions Center. (Athletic Communications\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 75,000-plus square-foot building features complete facilities for the men\u2019s and women\u2019s 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\u2019 offices, meeting rooms, and video analysis facilities.<\/p>\n

Upon entering the Werth Family UConn Basketball Champions Center, the lobby will feature a display of NCAA trophies representing the four men\u2019s championships and the nine women\u2019s titles. On each side of the main lobby leading to the women\u2019s and men\u2019s practice areas, visitors will be greeted by floor-to-ceiling images of two iconic Huskies representing each program\u00a0\u2013 Maya Moore and Ray Allen.<\/p>\n

\"Longtime<\/a>
Longtime UConn basketball supporter and major donor Peter Werth (sixth from left) was among the UConn officials and friends who celebrated the groundbreaking for the University\u2019s new basketball practice facility in April 2013. (Stephen Slade ’89 (SFA) for UConn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Peter Werth, a season ticket holder for both basketball teams and the football team, is the founder and CEO of Chemwerth Inc., a full-service generic drug development and supply company based in Connecticut.\u00a0He and Pamela have been active UConn Athletics donors since 2003.\u00a0Their strong connection to the University\u00a0began with their children \u2013 Peter, Debbie, and Jackie \u2013 all of whom attended UConn.<\/p>\n

\u201cUConn is a very special place,\u201d said Peter. \u201cThe young people who go to UConn come out better than they went in, not only in terms of education but also in attitude and life skills. UConn does a great job, and my family is pleased to be able to support it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pamela Werth, a strong supporter of programs that marry the arts and sports to education, said she was impressed by the basketball training center\u2019s focus on educational resources for student-athletes. \u201cThe soundproof study rooms and educational support areas are a tribute to the importance of academics to our student-athletes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Warde Manuel, UConn director of athletics, noted the facility will provide important support for student-athletes.<\/p>\n

Last year men\u2019s head coach Kevin Ollie \u201995 (CLAS) and women\u2019s head coach Geno Auriemma led the Huskies to dual championships, a feat accomplished just once before in NCAA history when Jim Calhoun and Auriemma led UConn to both national championships in 2004.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am very grateful to Peter and Pam Werth for their incredible generosity that has helped make the Werth Family UConn Basketball Champions Center a reality,\u201d Manuel said. “I also want to thank all the donors who contributed to the facility. Their support will help ensure that our men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball programs are able to continue to compete at a national championship level for decades to come.”<\/p>\n

The Werth Family UConn Basketball Champions Center was designed by Populous, formerly known as HOK Sport, which also designed The Burton Family Football Complex and Mark R. Shenkman Training Center located across the street from the new facility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UConn Foundation has handed over to the University the Werth Family UConn Basketball Champions Center, the first building financed entirely by private donations. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":97484,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147,1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[55],"class_list":["post-97476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-29 07:24:33","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97476"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97476\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97536,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97476\/revisions\/97536"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/97484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97476"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=97476"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=97476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}