New Home of Champions commemorates Stanford’s rich sports history

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Tom Watson’s golf bag is there. So is John McEnroe’s wooden tennis racket. And, of course, Jim Plunkett’s 1970 Heisman Trophy, the only one Stanford has won.

There’s a whole lot more than memorabilia to the university’s new Home of Champions center, laid out in an 18,000-square-foot space on two levels in the center of the Arrillaga Family Sports Center.

The building also houses the offices of coaches and other athletic-department staff members. The new addition includes the memorabilia that used to be housed in the increasingly cramped Hall of Fame, which was organized in 1954 by former Palo Alto Times sports editor Walt Gamage.

Visitors who recall that space will be delighted in the gleaming Home of Champions, a place where sports nostalgia meets high tech. It opens to the public for the first time Saturday before the evening’s football game against UCLA. Admission is free.

“We’re hoping people make this part of their game-day experience,” said Brian Risso, assistant athletics director for communications.

There are more than 40 displays featuring stories of athletes and coaches, tracing the 126-year history of Stanford athletics and employing interactive media. On display are the Vow Boys, who played in three Rose Bowls in the 1930s and lived up to their vow of not losing to USC after a loss in their freshman year. Also, the 1940 Wow Boys, who won a mythical national title. And the many Stanford women who ruled the 2016 Summer Olympics.

“We have so many amazing stories to share that narrowing down which ones would initially be here was really tough,” said assistant athletic director for marketing Araceli Ortiz, who spearheaded the donor-financed project over the past two years.

The former Cardinal rower said, “The best part of it was that we have the space to be completely updateable over time. Knowing we could add or rotate people throughout made it easier.”

Stanford's new Home of Champions exhibit in the Arrillaga Family Sports Center, open to the public for the first time Saturday, is where Cardinal sports nostalgia meets high tech. Stanford's new Home of Champions exhibit in the Arrillaga Family Sports Center, open to the public for the first time Saturday, is where Cardinal sports nostalgia meets high tech. Photo: Stanford Athletics Photo: Stanford Athletics Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close New Home of Champions commemorates Stanford’s rich sports history 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

There’s plenty to see, as you’d expect of a school that has won 113 NCAA team championships; only UCLA has won as many.

There are books listing all the letter winners in every sport. When you place one of the books in a circle on an interactive tabletop, you can instantly find information on anybody listed in that book.

There’s even an audio booth where visitors can relate their own Stanford sports stories and thus become part of the exhibit themselves.

Stanford has won the past 23 Division I Directors’ Cups for its collective success in sports. Instead of amassing all those crystal trophies, organizers displayed one trophy surrounded by plates for all the years the Farm has won.

The Hall of Fame, well represented in the Home of Champions, includes 424 members. This year’s inductees include quarterback Dick Norman, who led the nation in passing in 1959 and 1960. The group also includes former basketball players Jarron and Jason Collins, Rachel Buehler (women’s soccer), Jackie Frank (women’s water polo), John Gall (baseball), Cassidy Krug (women’s diving), Arianna Lambie (women’s cross country) and Ryan Nelson (men’s soccer).

They will be honored during the first-quarter break during Saturday night’s game. They’ll be officially inducted in a private ceremony Sunday at Bing Concert Hall.

Tom FitzGerald is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tfitzgerald@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @tomgfitzgerald

Stanford’s Home of Champions

What: New two-level center commemorating more than a century of Stanford athletics

Where: Arrillaga Family Sports Center (next to Maples Pavilion)

Admission: free

Hours: weekdays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. (closed Tuesdays); weekend hours, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.; football home games: Saturday vs. UCLA, 12-6 p.m.; Sept. 30 vs. Arizona State 9-11:30 a.m.; check gostanford.com/homeofchampions for upcoming schedule. Before weeknight basketball and volleyball games, hours are 10 a.m. until 30 minutes before start of game.