// February 25, 2013//
Richmond-based MeadWestvaco Corp. has pledged $3 million toward a new basketball practice facility at Virginia Commonwealth University.
The school said the gift, to be paid over 10 years, is the largest ever received by its Department of Intercollegiate Athletics.
The VCU Basketball Complex will be built adjacent to the Stuart C. Siegel Center, where VCU basketball games are played.
The complex will allow VCU Athletics tocentralize nearly all of its basketball activities – strength training, academic advising, video study, individual skill development, team meals and practice – under one roof.
John A. Luke Jr., the chairman and chief executive officer of MeadWestvaco, was appointed to the VCU Board of Visitors in 2012.
“VCU is a vital and vibrant part of our Richmond community,” Luke said in a statement. “The success of VCU’s basketball team has attracted national attention and raised the university’s profile on the court and in the classroom.”