The flashy new basketball floor at T-Mobile Center has been a hot topic in recent days, with the Big 12 women wrapping up their postseason tournament over the weekend and the men getting ready to start theirs on Tuesday.
Brandon Schneider’s KU women’s team played two games on the digital floor last week and they left Kansas City with some advice for Bill Self’s men’s team, which will open play on the new court this Thursday.
“Make sure your shoes are not slippery,” KU senior Lilly Meister told R1S1 Sports when asked after the Jayhawks’ 2nd-round loss to Colorado what she would tell the men’s team heading into its time on the court. “Do everything you can. Oh my gosh, it’s a slippery court, especially being the last game.”
The floor, made of glass and officially dubbed by the conference as a “state-of-the-art full LED video sports floor,” is the first of its kind to be used for official competition in the United States.
It features digital court designs that can be switched out with the tap of a button from the control center and gives the Big 12 the opportunity to highlight new partnerships, elevate fan engagement and enhance in-game entertainment for fans while adding some flare to the floor in the form of shot charts, games, animations, names on the floor during starting lineup introductions and more.
It also brings with it more than a couple of questions, with the biggest one being how does it feel and perform?
A closer look at how the LED video court panels are constructed, with an extreme close-up of one of the panels on the right. [R1S1 Sports photos]
That KU-CU game was the final game of four on Thursday, and Meister, along with some of her teammates, said playing late after so many other teams and players had been on the floor, bringing outside debris, sweat and wear and tear, was definitely a factor in their footing.
“The more that people brought dirt on it, it just got worse and worse,” KU senior Elle Evans said. “But, cool idea. I love the idea and it was a fun experience.”
Like the men’s team, which will get 30 minutes on the floor on Monday to get a feel for it for the first time, the KU women also had a short practice session on the glass court before their first game.
“I felt like at shoot-around, we were just shooting, we weren’t really moving for real,” junior guard Brittany Harshaw said. “And then in the first game (a Wednesday night win over UCF), when we were pivoting and cutting and moving full-speed, you could definitely tell the difference. It was pretty slippery. Both teams are dealing with the same thing, so just kind of have that mindset and focus on your own thing.”
No one was blaming the floor for the Jayhawks’ loss or the way they played against Colorado. But it was evident from watching the action that the unique playing surface impacted parts of the game.
Players on both teams slipped and slid on offense and defense, and athletes and coaches on other teams also spoke of the slippery surface being an adjustment.
“At the beginning, I didn’t think it was gonna be that bad,” Evans said. “But having the later game didn’t help us, after we had three games before us, getting all that dust on the floor. Hopefully they can figure out how to maybe clean it better between games, between halves. It’s definitely slick. And it’s noticeable. People were slipping and sliding everywhere on both sides.”
Freshman Libby Fandel said her best advice to the men would be to not let anything about the glass floor become a distraction. Not the feel or look or slick nature.
“I’m more of a hardwood fan,” Fandel said matter-of-factly. “I like the OG (courts). But it’s cool. Just make sure your shoes aren’t slick. There was a lot of slipping and sliding out there.”
All in all, the Jayhawks who already have played on it said they thought it was cool to be a part of the maiden voyage of such an endeavor. But it also seemed like a pretty common opinion that they would’ve preferred to play on the surface they’re used to.
“It’s pretty slick,” Big 12 Freshman of the Year Jaliya Davis said. “But I do think it’s a really cool concept. It hasn’t been done before, and it was really cool to be a part of that.”
Added Meister: “It’s definitely cool, but I kind of think don’t fix what’s not broken.”
We’ll see what the men make of it later this week.
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