Facilities
Holmes Convocation Center
A cornerstone of the Appalachian State University campus, the George M. Holmes Convocation Center containing Seby Jones Arena serves as the home of Mountaineer men's and women's basketball, volleyball and indoor track and field programs.
Standing at the end of Rivers Street, the 200,840-square-foot structure also houses the Department of Health, Leisure and Exercise Science, and includes a multipurpose arena for community and cultural events, graduation and convocation ceremonies, trade shows, concerts, and athletic events.
The facility officially opened on Nov. 17, 2000 when App State men's basketball hosted North Carolina in front of a sell-out crowd.
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A number of renovations have taken place since opening in order to keep facilities for all programs who call it home state-of-the-art. In 2017-18, a brand new Daktronics video board will make its debut.
Made up of nine displays, the center-hung display will feature more than 1,200 square feet of displays and more than 2.1 million LEDs. The four main displays will each measure approximately 11.5 feet high by 17.5 feet wide and feature 6-millimeter line spacing to deliver exceptional image clarity and contrast to every seat in the arena.
The display configuration includes four corner panels between the main displays and an upper ring display circling the top of the system. The arena is also receiving four LED scorer’s tables along the sidelines. These display provide the opportunity to highlight sponsors throughout events as well as to provide supplemental content and statistics to the main displays.
A number of national music acts have performed at Holmes including most recently The 1975 and Lil Wayne.
With a capacity of 8,325, the building is currently the fourth-biggest in the Sun Belt Conference.
Varsity Gym
Varsity Gym, a cornerstone for generations of App State students and athletics teams, is home to App State’s title-winning wrestling team.
Varsity Gym regularly has standing-room-only crowds for home wrestling duals, with recent visits coming from highly ranked programs such as NC State, North Carolina, Missouri and Oregon State.
Thanks to successful fundraising efforts, App State Wrestling has recently enhanced both its locker room space and practice space, as the spacious wrestling room connected to the main arena has increased in size to accommodate additional mats as well as the installation of new wall mats and wall graphics highlighting the program’s championship history.
With bleachers full of fans contributing to a high-energy atmosphere that includes a tunnel entrance for App State wrestlers and matside cheerleaders, the Mountaineers have one of the best wrestling environments in the country.
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Varsity Gym is also used by volleyball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's golf and track and field programs as an alternate practice facility. App State’s pole vaulters practice on the second level, and workouts are also held on the Mondo track that was installed in January 2008.
For both the men's and women's golf programs, a renovated indoor performance lab, back in 2018, resides in the basement of Varsity Gym.The Golf Performance Lab features two new Skytrak Golf Simulators and two new impact screens that are accompanied by televisions, projectors and computers thanks to the support of Jeff and Liz Mick, Don and Pat Phillips and Tom and Charlene Johnson.
The technology allows the App State golfers to receive distance, accuracy and other feedback on their indoor swings. With target settings, team members can participate in closest-to-the-pin competitions and other helpful drills. Two other separate rooms down the hall are designed for indoor chipping and putting practice that simulate green-like surfaces found on a golf course.
Varsity Gym cost $2 million to build and was North Carolina's largest indoor athletic facility west of Charlotte and Winston-Salem at the time of its completion in 1968.
When the 1999-2000 men's and women's basketball seasons concluded, it was the final season for Varsity Gym to serve as the home of App State basketball, marking the end of a 32-year relationship. The volleyball program also played its final season in Varsity Gym in 2000.
Varsity Gym also served as the preseason training camp home for the Charlotte Hornets during their first two NBA seasons from 1988-90.
Not only an athletic, intramural program and health, leisure and exercise science facility, Varsity Gym has a storied history of hosting nationally recognized entertainers.
The list of entertainers and concerts to step on the stage in Varsity Gym is a diverse group, covering several musical genres. Bruce Springsteen, Chicago, Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Steppenwolf, The Allman Brothers Band, The Temptations, The Beach Boys, Jimmy Buffett and Ray Charles are just a few who made appearances in Varsity.
Several public speakers, ranging from educational to political to comedic, have addressed large crowds in Varsity Gym. Bill Clinton, John Houseman, Jane Fonda, US consumer advocate Ralph Nader, entertainer Bill Murray, Harry Reasoner of 60 Minutes, US Army General Thomas Kelly, as well as Grammy Award-winning poet, writer, composer and actress Maya Angelou, all stood behind the Varsity Gym podium.
Quinn Recreation Center
The Dwight W. Quinn Recreation Center is located on Stadium Drive, across from Kidd Brewer Stadium. It was built in 1987 and is a 48,000 square-foot facility equipped with state-of-the-art fitness equipment.
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