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Classic Look Back for College Basketball Courts

D

Dallas Brave

New member
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
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...mu/stories/062207dnspomoodyfloor.30ef059.html
 
My vote for the ugliest floor is this one.
The hideous logo dominates the floor but also when the games are televised, it reflectes so much light you can't
see anything between the FT lines. Also, all the extra lines make it look like the floors in Haussler Hall used to look.


RedbirdArena6-15-07-3.jpg
 
Fine if you think the floor is ugly, however, the extra lines are only there for the summer for camps, etc. I know some people love the large Redbird at mid court, and others hate it.
 
SIU's old dark floor, which was replaced a few years ago by the new lighter colored one, was even uglier.
 
It looks like SMU took a step in the right direction. The big mustang and the colored in three point line make it look like a fourth grader designed it.

I liked the old outline of the state of Illinois that ISU used to have. The big birdhead just looks silly. I do like the new text on the endlines. Then again, I doubt anybody at ISU cares what I think.
 
I don't like the logos at mid court that stretch to almost touch the three point lines. For example, the floors at Kansas and Kentucky are awful. Granted, I hate anything to do with Kentucky. Makes you think they're compensating for something...
 
it's boogie time said:
It looks like SMU took a step in the right direction. The big mustang and the colored in three point line make it look like a fourth grader designed it.

I liked the old outline of the state of Illinois that ISU used to have. The big birdhead just looks silly. I do like the new text on the endlines. Then again, I doubt anybody at ISU cares what I think.
Click to expand...

The ON-COURT logos that dedicated the ISU court as "Doug Collins Court" have been moved, though.
Where those logos were before everyone would see it on every single half court play, but now, with it moved to the endlines, and often covered with photographers and cheerleaders, there will be long stretches of games that nobody will ever see it.
 
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