Champions Center – University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA

The Champions Center at UMass Amherst is a purpose built training and support facility for the university’s varsity basketball programs. Designed to provide full parity between the men’s and women’s teams, the building includes identical practice courts, team rooms, and administrative spaces.

Shared programmatic elements include a 2,800 square foot strength and conditioning center, a 1,700 square foot nutrition center, and a 1,900 square foot sports medicine suite equipped with a hydrotherapy spa. A 1,200 square foot “legacy hall” offers space for public engagement and program storytelling, while a 24 seat film room supports game analysis and strategy development.

Strategically located just south of the Mullins Center arena, the Champions Center is directly connected to the arena’s event floor, enabling use of the new team rooms on game days. The building is embedded into the existing site topography, stepping 18 feet below Commonwealth Avenue to align with the level of the adjacent athletic fields. This siting approach minimizes visual impact while establishing a new datum for future development to the west, forming the initial phase of an expanded campus framework.

The facility consolidates high-performance training, recovery, and administrative functions into a single, integrated environment; supporting both athletic excellence and equity across UMass’s basketball programs.