Though it has only been in existence since 1989, Belk Arena holds the strong tradition of Davidson basketball. Ten NCAA Tournament banners, numerous Southern Conference championship pennants, four NIT flags and retired jerseys with names like Hetzel, Snyder, Gerdy, Cobb and Rucker hang from the rafters that reflect the Wildcats’ proud basketball history.

Davidson has won 85 of 94 games in Belk Arena in the last six seasons and enter the 2008-09 campaign seven victories shy of 200 in the 20-year-old building. On the way to a 25-5 overall record in 1996, the ’Cats were a perfect 14-0 in the Southern Conference and 12-1 at home. In 2003-04, the Wildcats accomplished a new feat, posting a perfect 13-0 record in Belk Arena, and Davidson duplicated the effort with a 12-0 mark in 2007-08. Davidson owns an all-time record of 193-58 in the arena (.768 winning percentage).

The Baker Sports Complex and John M. Belk Arena — with 5,223 seats for basketball — is the centerpiece of the Wildcats’ athletics facilities. Davidson has hosted some of the nation’s top teams on its home court, including opponents from the ACC, SEC, Big East, Atlantic 10 and Conference USA. Davidson demonstrated its ability to compete with the best in athletics, despite being such a selective school, by participating in the men’s basketball Division I NCAA Tournament in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2008. Belk Arena is named in honor of John M. Belk ’43, a former captain of the Wildcats’ teams, a Davidson College trustee for more than 15 years and former mayor of Charlotte.

In addition to Belk Arena, other features of Baker Sports Complex are the Carl and Louise Knobloch Tennis Center, Cannon Pool, Dickson Administrative Wing and Finley Education Center, plus the Charles W. Parker Wrestling Room, a weight room, sports medicine center, four racquetball courts and one squash court.