Inside The Huskies

UW Close to Breaking Ground on New Basketball Practice Facility

The donor-funded facility is projected to be finished by August 2025.

Dan Raley

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The University of Washington will break ground soon on its new $60 million basketball practice center, which is expected to be completed in August 2025.

All donor funded, the facility will cater to both the men's and women's teams, replace an aging building that holds the dormant swimming pool and connect itself to Alaska Airlines Arena and the Graves Annex weight room.

Already fencing has gone up that completely blocks off a parking area behind the north side of Husky Stadium. Construction is scheduled to begin in June. 

"It's a place to call home," UW coach Mike Hopkins said. "I think we're probably, arguably, the only school in a Power 5 conference that didn't have their own facility."

The new center will hold a pair of 9,800-square-feet practice courts, which will connect to an overhead skywalk enabling recruits, families and fans to watch practices. Players will have 24-hour access to the courts.

An entryway to the building will be used for pregame functions for fans and become decorated with images of program milestones and legendary players, something that doesn't currently exist. 

UW football always has received priority over basketball throughout their more than a century of co-existence and this is one step in making more of a recommitment to the hoop game as the landscape changes with entry into a new conference next season.

"Investment in Husky basketball is critical to enabling our future competitive success as we enter the Big Ten, and we are grateful our donors share this belief and stepped forward in such a remarkable way," UW athletic director Troy Dannen said in a statement.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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