Bud Walton Arena

When Arkansas joined the Southeastern Conference in August of 1990, then Razorback Men’s Athletic Director Frank Broyles knew the athletic facilities had to be upgraded to contend in America’s most nationally competitive league.

His attention turned immediately to basketball. The men’s basketball team had been very successful, coming off a Final Four trip earlier that year, but they, along with the women’s team, played in 9,000-seat Barnhill Arena. One day, Bud Walton, co-founder of Wal-Mart, visited Broyles and asked him what Arkansas needed most to be competitive in the SEC. Broyles mentioned the need for additional basketball seats and was asked by Walton what a new arena would cost. The figure $30 million was discussed and Walton offered to pay half. From that visit, fabulous Bud Walton Arena was born.

Ground breaking to grand opening was accomplished in a remarkable 18 months. The Razorbacks played in Bud Walton for the first time in November of 1993. Everything went perfectly during the first full year. Not only did Arkansas men’s team sell out the arena, the Razorbacks were unbeaten in their new home (16-0) and won the 1994 national championship.

Basketball Performance Center

The 66,000 square-foot Basketball Performance Center opened in the fall of 2015 and is the new home of the Razorback men’s and women’s basketball programs. 

The facility includes two full-court gymnasiums, locker rooms, a weight room, an athletic training room, coaches’ offices, team meeting rooms, a student-athlete lounge, study areas and an equipment room.

The largest components of the facility are two identical practice gyms, which are approximately 12,280 square feet each. Each gym has six wall mounted goals and two portable goals that are identical to the goals used in Bud Walton Arena.

A state-of-the-art video coaching system is available in each gym with a large format video display for the team’s use in reviewing video footage recorded during practice through the remotely operated cameras mounted on the ceiling.

The Performance Center’s training room is approximately 1,720 square feet and contains a large treadmill treatment pool, cold plunge pool, hot plunge pool and a dual extremity pool.

The weight room is 4,030 square feet with a dedicated plyometric training area, private massage rooms and strength coach offices.