Sublett Family Strength and Conditioning Center

The Sublett Family Strength and Conditioning Center, which is located on the west side of the entrance to Alico Arena, features a state-of-the-art weight room that can accommodate more than 100 student-athletes at a time. It officially opened its doors at the start of the 2020-21 academic year with its official dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony held on Nov. 11, 2020.

The main area of the center spans 8,760 square feet, and it also includes offices covering 860 square feet. Packed with 28,500 pounds of weights, the strength and conditioning staff uses iPads with a special software loaded to display and record workouts at each station.

Made possible through an extremely generous $1 million donation from Jim and Donna Sublett, the center is part of overall improvements to Alico Arena that previously included the additions of the Schreiner Family Sports Medicine Center, the Hartley Academic Resource Center, enhanced Beale Athletics Offices and a state-of-the-art film room for coaches. The third phase of improvements will be locker rooms.

“It’s an impressive facility when you walk inside,” FGCU women’s basketball coach Karl Smesko said. “We have a great university and a beautiful campus with great athletic programs. And now we have a first-rate weight room that is a big part of team development because that’s something recruits are looking for.”

For the Sublett family, there’s a family history of heart disease and sizable contributions to the American Heart Association, especially in the far-less researched area of women’s heart health. Donna, who has had two heart attacks and lost her father to an allergic reaction to a medication following heart bypass surgery at age 72, spearheaded “Go Red” nights at FGCU, where red shirts are sold and worn at basketball doubleheaders to raise awareness to the nation’s leading killer.

“That’s why we wanted the fitness center,” she said of the couple choosing that for naming rights in the Alico expansion. “Nobody knows, especially when they’re in college, that heart disease is the leading killer.”

The Sublett connection to FGCU goes back even further to the basketball programs' founding games in TECO Arena in 2002-03, before Alico was completed. Over the years the couple – which has had combined professional success in education, electronics and home construction with roles in Black & Decker, McGraw-Edison, Toastmaster and First Home Builders – has funded several scholarships for men’s and women’s basketball.

Furthermore, since 2012, the department has bestowed the Jim and Donna Sublett Award annually upon distinguished contributors that have continually fostered goodwill for and helped enhance the image of FGCU men's basketball and the gentlemen who comprise the program.