📍 Richmond, Kentucky
🏀 Home of Eastern Kentucky Colonels basketball

Just down the road from electric Rupp Arena in Lexington is another Bluegrass State basketball venue that’s both historic and architecturally impressive – Baptist Health Arena on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University. Located in the town of Richmond, this mid-major gem has been the home of the EKU Colonels for more than 60 years and with some of the best acoustics around, it’s become a daunting place to play for visiting teams.

For decades, the Colonels have played within the aging walls of the Alumni Coliseum complex, which opened in 1963. The arena itself bore the name of former head coach Paul S. McBrayer until 2022, when a new naming rights partnership was struck. The $2.5 million deal changed the venue’s name to Baptist Health Arena and represented a significant investment in the future of EKU men’s and women’s basketball. Thanks in part to this financial boost, the arena is undergoing major restoration to enhance its long-term viability, with an estimated completion date in the fall of 2025.

Baptist Health Arena seats approximately 6,500 fans and features an iconic cross-arch wooden roof. This unique ceiling gives the venue its homey feel and provides some amazing acoustics on game days, amplifying the energy exuded by the crowd during what the Colonels have proclaimed the “Most Exciting 40 Minutes in Sports.”

And, for the most part, it really has been exciting. Over the years, the team appeared in eight NCAA Tournaments – though, sadly, the Colonels have never escaped the first round of play – and won six Ohio Valley Conference championships. Members of the OVC since its founding in 1948, Eastern Kentucky moved to the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2021 and the early returns have been promising, having clinched the 2024 ASUN regular season title.

The future is bright in Richmond. With new ASUN competition on the horizon and an enhanced arena experience to boot, Baptist Health Arena will undoubtedly be a faithful home for Colonels basketball – and their dedicated fans – for a long time to come.