Kentucky faculty are asking for a new name for Rupp Arena

Will Kentucky basketball no longer play at Rupp Arena after a name change?

It’s always been Rupp Arena for Kentucky basketball, but that could be changing soon.

According to ESPN senior writer Mark Schlabach, “the faculty of the University of Kentucky’s African American and Africana Studies program has asked UK president Eli Capilouto to change the name of Rupp Arena because the legendary basketball coach’s name ‘has come to stand for racism and exclusion” and “alienates Black students, fans, and attendees.'”

“The Adolph Rupp name has come to stand for racism and exclusion in UK athletics and alienates Black students, fans, and attendees,” wrote the AAAS faculty. “The rebuilding of the arena and the convention center offer an opportunity to change the name to a far more inclusive one, such as Wildcat Arena.”

Will Rupp Arena be called something else in the not-too-distant future?

Let’s not kid ourselves about the University of Kentucky going about changing the names of their athletic venues. The university literally changed the name of its football stadium from Commonwealth Stadium to Kroger Field, so don’t tell us they can’t pivot off Rupp Arena, no matter how iconic Adolph Rupp was as the Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball for four decades.

Rupp coached the Kentucky men’s basketball team for 41 years from 1930 to 1972. He was instrumental in Kentucky becoming a college basketball blue-blood, serving as the lone undisputed blue-blood program in the SEC. Rupp won over 82 percent of his games, won four national titles at Kentucky and took home 27 SEC conference titles to The Bluegrass State.

However, Rupp was notoriously non-inclusive as a head coach. His all-white 1966 team famously lost to the all-black Texas Western (UTEP) squad for the national championship. It wasn’t until three years later that Rupp signed his first black player in center Tom Payne in 1969. Again, this was a different time, but racial inequality is one of the first things you think about with Rupp.

Given that there are renovations going on at the arena, which was completed shortly before Rupp’s death in the late 1970s, it might be advantageous to rename the iconic basketball venue to something more inclusive. Nothing unifies Kentucky like its love for basketball, well, except maybe horse racing. “Wildcat Arena” is bland, but it won’t offend certain members of the UK faculty.

If the Wildcats can play football at Kroger Field, they can play basketball at Wildcat Arena.

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