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In today's Dallas Morning News, there is an article on how, "SMU decided to redesign its hardwood ... the new look is part of a branding strategy across the athletic department that's designed to sell the classic collegiate experience."
The motivation? Last year an ESPN.com columnist ranked the basketball court at SMU's Moody Coliseum among the worst in the country last season ???‚¬??? Texas A&M's court was picked for ugliest in America.
Here are some interesting excerpts from the article:
SMU called in an alumnus, Erik Herskind, Class of '87 and a former track and cross country athlete, and Greenlight, his Dallas-based agency, for help. He started researching, and was surprised to find that not much had been compiled on hardwood designs. Now he's done so much, he's considering writing a book. He studied the courts of college basketball royalty ???‚¬??? UCLA, Duke, North Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky. He considered the courts of famous arenas ???‚¬??? "The Pit" at New Mexico, "The RAC" at Rutgers, the Palestra at Penn. He looked at the courts of all of SMU's colleagues in Conference USA. He even found a college basketball video game, College Hoops 2K7, to be an invaluable resource, offering a look at hundreds of NCAA courts, down to amazingly accurate detail. Herskind visited the public library and dug up old copies of Sports Illustrated, including the cover of SMU great Jim Krebs in 1957. Greenlight called schools around the country to get their photos of vintage and contemporary courts. SMU provided photos of Moody courts through the years.
An artist's rendering can found on the link with the article at
The motivation? Last year an ESPN.com columnist ranked the basketball court at SMU's Moody Coliseum among the worst in the country last season ???‚¬??? Texas A&M's court was picked for ugliest in America.
Here are some interesting excerpts from the article:
SMU called in an alumnus, Erik Herskind, Class of '87 and a former track and cross country athlete, and Greenlight, his Dallas-based agency, for help. He started researching, and was surprised to find that not much had been compiled on hardwood designs. Now he's done so much, he's considering writing a book. He studied the courts of college basketball royalty ???‚¬??? UCLA, Duke, North Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky. He considered the courts of famous arenas ???‚¬??? "The Pit" at New Mexico, "The RAC" at Rutgers, the Palestra at Penn. He looked at the courts of all of SMU's colleagues in Conference USA. He even found a college basketball video game, College Hoops 2K7, to be an invaluable resource, offering a look at hundreds of NCAA courts, down to amazingly accurate detail. Herskind visited the public library and dug up old copies of Sports Illustrated, including the cover of SMU great Jim Krebs in 1957. Greenlight called schools around the country to get their photos of vintage and contemporary courts. SMU provided photos of Moody courts through the years.
An artist's rendering can found on the link with the article at
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