FAYETTEVILLE -- The Razorback Foundation announced Thursday that it had received a $5 million donation from a Little Rock family which will have an athletics building named in its honor.
The University of Arkansas' Basketball Performance Center will be named for the family of Marsha and Marty Martin during a ceremony March 4, the same day the Razorbacks' men's basketball team is scheduled to host Kentucky. The renaming of the building was approved by the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees during a scheduled meeting Thursday in Little Rock.
The Basketball Performance Center is a 66,000-square foot building that opened in 2015 and serves the Razorbacks' men's and women's basketball teams. It includes two basketball courts, locker rooms, weight rooms, training rooms, coaches offices and other amenities, and is located across the street from Walton Arena.
"We are humbled by the generosity of the Martin family for this extraordinary gift," Arkansas Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek said in a statement. "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."
Marsha Martin founded Onyx Brands, a Little Rock-based cosmetics company, in 1990. According to the company's website, Onyx sells beauty, bath and accessory items, and began as a manufacturer for nail care products.
"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 in a statement provided by the Razorback Foundation. "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 Martin family is the third to have a $5 million donation announced by the Razorback Foundation in a little more than four years. The Willard & Pat Walker Charitable Foundation and the family of J.B. and Johnelle Hunt had $5 million gifts announced during an 11-month period in 2018 and 2019.
Those donations benefited the construction of the $27 million baseball operations center that opened in 2021 and was named for the Hunt family. The Walker family name was added to Arkansas' baseball park, Baum-Walker Stadium, prior to the 2019 season.