For the first time under athletics director Tom Collins, the floor at Worthen Arena is getting a makeover.
The wooden floor at Worthen Arena lasts twenty years, with maintenance scheduled every five years to repair broken boards and resurface the floor.
This summer's maintenance includes a cleaner basketball court design.
"Several people are involved with this process," Collins said. "We had several designs on how to make the floor. It's neat and clean for television and video."
One of the biggest changes to the court design is the amount of red on the floor. In previous years, the baseline, the sideline and the lane were all colored red, making it the dominant color of the design. The new design has an uncolored lane, with red only being found on the baseline underneath both baskets.
By Mid-American Conference requirements, the MAC logo has returned to the lane just foul line. Also, there is only one 3-point line as women's basketball has moved back to 20 feet 9 inches, the same as men's basketball.
The Ball State logo is still at center court, but underneath the logo are the words "Ball State University."
"It was really just to change it up," Collins said. "Sometimes change is good. We also didn't want the tape for volleyball to rip up the new design. Since it's a cleaner look we won't be taping up something."
The process began May 7, the day after graduation, and should be compeleted by June 1.
Calls to Director of Sports Facilities and Recreation Services Dan Byrnes were not returned.
Collins said the new floor design could potentially bring more fans to basketball and volleyball games. He also said that he hopes the new design will give Ball State a look people can recognize on television.
As for the coaches, Collins said there is much approval.
"We showed them the design before we began," he said. "They think it's a clean and very good design."
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