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Is garish the new glamorous?
Pondering the idea of joining Boise State's blue football field and Oregon's fir tree-framed basketball court as the nation's most outlandish playing surfaces, Northwestern may be playing on a purple-stained court for the 2011-12 season when it redesigns the floor at Welsh-Ryan Arena next month.
The Barney-hued court is one of four options the athletic staff will decide on partially based off fan opinions on a Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 6787113700" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;).
The options, designed by athletic communications associate director Julie Dunn, also include a court design with the slogan "Chicago's Big Ten Team" down the sideline, another with a Wildcat mascot at midcourt and purple keys, and one with a more traditional design with the "N" and Wildcat at midcourt and purple sidelines.
"We're getting more feedback than we expected," athletic communications associate director Nick Brilowski said. "Fans are saying it's cool we're letting fans have a voice in this."
A court design will be chosen by the athletic staff near the end of next week, he said, and the construction will begin around mid-August. This will be the first court redesign in about a decade and was prompted when the Big Ten changed its logo.
"Personally I like the first one with the purple inside the 3-point line, but also the second one that says Northwestern across the court," Wildcats guard Nick Fruendt said. "The purple court is very unique. Realistically, it would be a little too much. I know I've seen comments online like we'd become the Boise State of college basketball. We care more about getting better on the court and winning."
The Facebook reviews have been mixed but opinions are strong concerning the mostly all-purple court.
"(The purple court) would be awesome from a novelty standpoint but not from a 'I'm trying to watch 40 minutes of basketball on ESPN without my retinas disintegrating' standpoint," was one post.
Others love the bold color pallet.
"College sports are about tradition. Look at Boise State's football field. It's blue. NU's bball should be purple."
Some fans noted concern about the 3-point line becoming almost invisible on a purple court, while others discussed how the purple court would translate on television.
Brilowski said the staff will address that issue — as purple tends to appear blue on television — if the purple court is chosen. "That might need to be toned down to get it to our color scheme," he said, noting the hardwood would be stained rather than painted.
Oregon asked the NCAA to clear its design, although the NCAA guidebook's rules regarding court designs mostly concern signage. The NCAA forbids logos that could "distract from the players' and the officials' visibility of the division line or center-circle line."
Joevan Catron, a Chicago native who led Oregon in scoring last season, said playing on a court that resembled a painted canvas was a bonus.
"I think that playing on that was an advantage for the home team because you practice on it every day," he said. "Guys would get confused about the halfcourt line. We won off guys making mistakes. We wound up getting the ball in crunch time. It's virtually invisible. And on sidelines it was all green (with painted trees) so can't see the boundary lines."
But one Northwestern fan was more concerned about how the color would impact the Wildcats' play.
"I love (purple), but it won't work on TV. Plus NU is terrible in the paint!"
