Craig and Connie Weatherup give $5 million to ASU Athletics
Craig Weatherup, ASU alumnus and past CEO of Pepsi Cola, and his wife, Connie, have given a lead gift of $5 million to ASU Intercollegiate Athletics to help ASU’s basketball programs play on a national stage. The Weatherups’ gift, given through the ASU Foundation, will name the new basketball practice facility at ASU.
The Weatherup Center will be a 30,000-square-foot basketball practice facility. With state-of-the-art practice areas, locker rooms, offices and team meeting areas, it will be a home for the men’s and women’s basketball teams to practice, train and study. Features of the center include two full-size basketball courts, offices for the coaches, locker rooms and a team video room.
“Connie and I are proud to support ASU’s athletics, and we hope our gift will help contribute to the quality and excellence that is being seen throughout ASU,” said Craig Weatherup. “This brand-new facility will not only bring visibility to the basketball programs, but will help shine a bright light on ASU as a major player in college athletics. We hope our gift encourages other individuals to invest in the excellence of ASU Athletics by providing greater resources for our coaches and programs.”
The face of ASU basketball has transformed considerably in recent years with the hiring of men’s basketball coach Herb Sendek and the national success of women’s basketball coach Charli Turner Thorne. In a short amount of time, Coach Sendek has entered the competitive Pacific-10 Conference and quickly gathered top student-athlete recruits for the Sun Devils. Charli Turner Thorne has established ASU women’s basketball as one of the Elite Eight teams in the nation a level never before attained at ASU.
To further elevate its impressive successes, ASU Athletics has launched the Sun Devil Legacy campaign. Currently, the first phase of the campaign comprises $90 million to build the Weatherup Center and a fieldhouse, and to fund renovations to Joe Selleh Track/Sun Angel Stadium, Packard Stadium and the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center.
“Our vision for Arizona State University is to achieve and sustain a performance level of national championship successes and Rose Bowl victories,” said Lisa Love, vice president of university athletics. “In order to reach this vision of greatness, it will take an unprecedented level of commitment from our teams, our supporters and our university to compete on a national stage. Commitment and support for building state-of-the-art practice facilities and improving the legacy of existing Sun Devil venues will provide the foundation for ASU Athletics to compete among the best talent in the nation.”