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Vanderbilt Athletics dedicated the Huber Center, a brand-new basketball facility for Vanderbilt’s Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams, on Jan. 24, 2025. Chancellor Daniel Diermeier, athletics director Candice Storey Lee, head coaches Mark Byington and Shea Ralph and primary donors George and Cathy Huber all spoke at the event.
The Huber Center represents a key milestone for Vandy United — it is the first non-renovation project completed as part of the campaign, which began in 2021.
“We launched Vandy United to reimagine the future of Vanderbilt Athletics and hold ourselves to the standard of excellence that guides us always,” Diermeier said. “The values of our coaches and student-athletes champion the values we hold dear at Vanderbilt; hard work and courage, continual growth, equal measures of challenge and support and selflessly coming together in pursuit of a greater common purpose.”
The Chancellor couldn’t resist a playful jab at Vanderbilt’s academic and athletic rivals.
“As I like to say at Vanderbilt, we beat Harvard during the week and Tennessee on the weekends,” Diermeier said.
Lee spoke afterward, echoing similar sentiments. She offered a special thanks to the Huber family for their contributions to the building’s creation.
“For every day we’ve been on this journey that we began nearly five years ago, we proclaimed the highest aspirations for Vanderbilt Athletics, and then set out to do what was necessary to bring that vision to life,” Lee said. “We would not have this beautiful building without the generous support of George and Cathy Huber.”
Lee expressed her excitement about the combined charm of the Huber Center and the fabled Memorial Gymnasium.
“Now we have the best of both worlds. We have a legendary, quirky, historic gym that gives us a home-court advantage like no other in the country,” Lee said. “[And] we have the best-equipped, uniquely-placed and visually-striking practice facility in America.”
The Hubers spoke next, with George Huber emphasizing his family’s love for Vanderbilt, which came from their son’s attendance at the university.
“When [Diermeier] and our truly amazing athletic director Candice Lee — who I’m fortunate to call a very good friend of mine — [asked] me to meet and see whether Cathy and I would be willing to give money to help with this, it was really easy to say yes.”
The dedication concluded with words from both of Vanderbilt’s basketball coaches. Ralph started.
“There’s a clear vision to the relentless commitment to maximizing our potential as human beings [at Vanderbilt],” Ralph said. “For me, that allows me to create this opportunity that I don’t think our student-athletes could experience anywhere else in the world.”
Byington, who is in the midst of leading Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball to its best season since the 200s, echoed a similar sentiment.
“We got in [the Huber Center] around mid-December, still with construction, but we were just so excited to get in here,” Byington said. “I might have broken some codes [before then] coming in here, checking every day on construction without a hard hat, but I just couldn’t wait to get in here.”
The facility houses the men’s practice court and offices on the first floor and the women’s on the third. The second level of the building has a weight room, athletic training center and other shared amenities.
The first and third floors are mirror images, with a few exceptions. Byington’s office looks out over FirstBank Stadium while Ralph’s office overlooks the women’s practice court, allowing her to watch her team at all times. Both teams’ locker rooms have ping pong and pool tables, arcade games and pop-a-shots. Both locker rooms also have a film study room attached to them.
The second floor’s weight room is the “nicest” Byington has ever seen. It features a large variety of Vanderbilt Basketball branded equipment as well as a miniature turf field and a basketball hoop.
Next door to the athletic training room is the sports medicine room. However, past the expected massage tables and exam rooms is the hydrotherapy suite, which houses a water treadmill, multiple heating/cooling tubs and a sensory deprivation pod.
One of the largest standalone facilities in the country, the Huber Center bolsters the proud history of Memorial Gymnasium with the championship training environment of the future.