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Big 12 Swaps Out ‘Slippery’ Glass Court for Traditional Hardwood in Semifinals, Title Game

Kansas coach Bill Self called the move “the right thing to do” after multiple conference players said the bright and flashing lights on the court created some dizziness or headaches.
Pat Forde|
The Big 12 is switching out its LED court for a traditional hardwood court.
The Big 12 is switching out its LED court for a traditional hardwood court. | Frank Bowen IV/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After three days of slips, slides and complaints, the Big 12 Conference announced Thursday night after the quarterfinals that it is swapping out its light-up fiberglass court and going back to traditional hardwood for the semifinals and final.

“After consultation with the coaches of our four semifinal teams, I have decided that in order to provide our student-athletes with the greatest level of comfort on a huge stage this weekend we will transition to a hardwood court for the remainder of the tournament,” commissioner Brett Yormark said in a statement. “We look forward to a great semifinals and championship game.”

However, Kansas coach Bill Self said after winning the last game of the night that he was not part of the decision to switch playing surfaces. But he’s in agreement with the decision.

“I think it’s the right thing to do,” Self said, though he noted that his players didn’t have any major issues with the court during their victory over TCU on Thursday night, Kansas’s first game on the surface.

Players on several teams noted the slippery nature of the surface, and a couple said the bright and flashing lights on the court created some dizziness or headaches.

Late Thursday, the fiberglass court was being disassembled. The league will have plenty of time to make the switch for the semis, which tip off at 7 p.m. ET with Iowa State against Arizona. The nightcap will be Kansas vs. Houston.

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Pat Forde
PAT FORDE

Pat Forde is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who covers college football and college basketball as well as the Olympics and horse racing. He cohosts the College Football Enquirer podcast and is a football analyst on the Big Ten Network. He previously worked for Yahoo Sports, ESPN and The (Louisville) Courier-Journal. Forde has won 28 Associated Press Sports Editors writing contest awards, has been published three times in the Best American Sports Writing book series, and was nominated for the 1990 Pulitzer Prize. A past president of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and member of the Football Writers Association of America, he lives in Louisville with his wife. They have three children, all of whom were collegiate swimmers.

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