Marsha and Marty Martin Family provides $5 Million Gift to Support Arkansas Athletics
FAYETTEVILLE – The Marsha and Marty Martin Family has made a $5 million gift to the Razorback Foundation in support of Arkansas Athletics. In recognition, the Basketball Performance Center on the University of Arkansas campus will be named in their honor and unveiled on March 4, 2023.
The name of the facility was formally considered and approved by the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees at its scheduled meeting on Thursday.
“We are humbled by the generosity of the Martin family for this extraordinary gift,” Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Hunter Yurachek said. “For more than four decades, the Martins have displayed their passion for our program in numerous ways, including in investing their time and energy into cheering on our teams while also providing the support to help ensure our student-athletes and coaches are positioned for success. Our men’s and women’s basketball teams are fortunate to train and compete in one of the best basketball performance centers in the nation. It is certainly appropriate that this spectacular day-to-day Home of Razorback Basketball will now also honor this special family of Razorback fans.”
The Martins are long-time supporters and members of the Razorback Foundation with more than 40 years of consecutive giving. As members of Cardinal & White, the Razorback Foundation’s major giving society, their gifts support Razorback student-athletes in the most valuable ways including scholarships, nutrition, personal and professional development, and medical care. “On behalf of the Razorback Foundation, we are most grateful to the Marsha and Marty Martin Family for their years of steadfast support, and this amazing gift which will benefit Razorback Athletics in numerous ways,” Razorback Foundation Executive Director Scott Varady added.
“We are lifelong, avid Razorback fans and we could not think of a better way to show our support than with this gift,” Marsha Martin said. “We look forward to continuing to cheer on both the men’s and women’s basketball teams and all other Razorback sports to much future success.”
The Martins have also demonstrated their generosity through their financial support of other organizations such as American Heart Association and Multiple Sclerosis Foundation.
The Marsha and Marty Martin Family Basketball Performance Center is home to both Razorback men’s and women’s basketball teams and serves as their training facility. The 66,000-foot facility opened in 2015 and includes two full-court gymnasiums, locker rooms, a weight room an athletic training room, coaches’ offices, team meeting rooms, student-athlete lounges, study areas and an equipment room.
The naming of the facility will be officially celebrated at a ceremony on March 4, 2023, prior to the Arkansas-kentucky men’s basketball game at Bud Walton Arena.