The change to the Big Ten is giving USC, Oregon, Washington, and UCLA a chance to install new basketball playing surfaces. USC installed its new floor. Oregon has done the same. However, whereas USC used a relatively standard court design, Oregon is trying to be splashy and unique. The school with dozens of different football uniforms and its previous “Deep In The Woods” court wanted a revision of its basketball playing surface. For most schools, merely having Big Ten markings would be a big deal, but at Oregon, it was a much bigger deal than just slapping on the new conference logo. Ducks Wire’s Zachary Neel offered a lengthy assessment of the Ducks’ new court in Matthew Knight Arena, and he talked to the men who designed the new floor.
“So how did that play into the new design? They didn’t work to cover up the woodgrain patterns with opaque paint like the previous design, but instead, let it play through the trees and represent the character of the northwest. Another brilliant touch that pays homage to Oregon history is the warm and rich color of the wood, which was brought out by using an oil finish, like at MacArthur Court, rather than a bleached wood look that has become popular across the nation.”
You can find more Oregon basketball court installation stories throughout the Ducks Wire website.
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