William & Mary Athletics

GPS Address: 751 Ukrop Way, Williamsburg, VA 23185

Description
The home of Tribe Athletics was officially named Kaplan Arena on Sept. 23, 2016. The facility, named in honor of Jim and Jane Kaplan, was originally built as William & Mary Hall and opened in 1971. Kaplan Arena is the home of varsity basketball, volleyball and gymnastics. On the concourse and lower levels of the building are coaching and staff offices housing the William & Mary Athletics Department. The broad-based program offers 23 intercollegiate varsity sports to William & Mary undergraduates.

In the summer of 2023, the first phase in the renovation of Kaplan Arena started with the addition of the state-of-the-art, 1000 sq. ft center hung scoreboard along with enhanced lighting and sound system. The newest features of Kaplan Arena add to the fan experience.

Kaplan Arena was named in recognition of the longtime support of the Kaplans. Inducted into the W&M Athletics Department Hall of Fame in 1987, Jim Kaplan graduated from the university in 1957 following a stellar basketball career in which he was a captain and three-year starter. Jim and his wife, Jane, who graduated from W&M in 1956, have served as co-chairs of the Athletic Campaign Committee. A member of the W&M Endowment Association, Jim Kaplan was a board member of the W&M Society of the Alumni from 1995-2000, has been an executive partner the university's business school, and has been a member of the Campaign for William & Mary steering committee. Jane Kaplan served as co-chair of the Lord Botetourt Auction in 2003 and 2004, an annual event that raises money for the Tribe Club. A recipient of the W&M Alumni Medallion in 2002, Jim was the owner of Cornell Dubilier Electronics, the world’s oldest manufacturer of electronic capacitors.
 
The basketball gymnasium became known as Kaplan Arena in honor of Jim and Jane Kaplan in 2005, following their commitment of $7 million in support of the Tribe men’s basketball team. The entirety of the William & Mary Hall was given the Kaplan Arena name upon approval of the Board of Visitors on Sept. 23, 2016. Their scholarships gift, given during the leadership phase of W&M’s For the Bold campaign, was the largest the athletics department has ever received and provides full financial support for generations of men's basketball players.

Total capacity of the arena is 8,600 for basketball, but by using bleachers in the open end and chairs on the floor, capacity can be expanded to 11,300 for convocations, concerts or theater-in-the-round.

The building features a medical suite, seminar room, and another room for other sports usages. The facility houses 12 locker room areas with adjoining showers. In addition, the 5,000 square-foot Joseph W. Montgomery Strength Training Center is locked on the bottom level of Kaplan Arena.

The Hall, completed in 17 months by the Southeastern Construction Company of Charlotte, North Carolina, opened just in time for the inaugural game between the Tribe and the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. Financed by state revenue bonds, the total cost of the structure was $5.3 million. The first game was played on Dec. 5, 1970 and UNC defeated W&M in front of a capacity crowd.

The rafters of Kaplan Arena include seven retired jerseys. On the men’s side, six former standouts had their jersey’s retired, including Marcus Thornton ’15 (#3), Keith Cieplicki ’85 (#14), Bill Chambers ’53 (#32), Chet Giermak ’50(#32), John Lowenhaupt ’78 (#42), and Jeff Cohen ’61 (#52). Tribe great Lynn Norenberg Barry ’81 (#22) had her numbers retired on the women’s side.

Other sporting events held in Kaplan Arena have included the Harlem Globetrotters and the Roller Derby. Fans in the Williamsburg area have seen auto shows, dog shows, Prince Charles, Glenn Close, a Billy Graham crusade, Bette Midler, Billy Joel, speeches by presidential candidates Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, the Shakespeare Players, a three-ring circus, and even a Howdy Doody show!

The first concert held was Sly and the Family Stone held in 1971. The largest crowd for a concert was 13,514 for the Police in February 1982. Other performers in the Hall included R.E.M., Sting, the Grateful Dead, Bruce Hornsby, 10,000 Maniacs, Beach Boys, Chicago, Nirvana and many more.