Wichita State senior Krista Whittemore got to see something most people do not get to see at Charles Koch Arena.

In October, Wichita State Athletics hosted an open house for Shocker fans to view the areas of Koch Arena not normally open to the public.

Whittemore went with some friends to see the players’ locker rooms.

“Those things were really nice,” Whittemore said.

Fans were allowed access to the women’s volleyball locker room, women’s basketball locker room and athletic offices. The big highlight of the tour was the newly renovated men’s locker room.

The new locker rooms, made possible by a $250,000 donation by an anonymous alumnus, were made with the Final Four team in mind.

The walls above the men’s lockers are adorned with players past and present, and in the middle of the floor is an emblem of the 2013 Final Four in Atlanta. On the outside is the 2013 Division One Regional Championship trophy and a net from one of the hoops.

Whittemore said she came out to make memories, another theme of the new locker room.

From the moment they entered the room, people could see images of Shockers past and present.

On the left side of the room is a display paying homage to such legendary players as Antoine Carr and Xavier McDaniel. To the right is a mural of Gregg Marshall and the Final Four team from last season.

Freshman Monty Walter went to the open house to see what they did with the locker rooms. They were a little better than what he was expecting from the pictures, he said.

“I the way that they went in with the coloring and everything with the lockers and stuff,” Walter said.

Whittemore said her favorite part of the tour was the individual areas for each player.

“They’ve got their names on the edge and I think all of it is just amazing,” she said.

Complete with a pool table, TV and couch, it’s clear that the men’s locker room is more than just a place for the players to change clothes. It’s a place for the players to wind down and relax before and after a hard game or practice.

“It was like a little arcade kind of inside,” Whittemore said.