Northwestern college basketball unveiled its new design for the playing court at Welsh-Ryan Arena to be incorporated for the upcoming 2011-12 school year. The interior of the three-point arcs are purple with the exception of the lanes which are the traditional wood color. The brand new Big Ten Conference logo is located just below the top of the key inside the free throw semicircle.
The frame of the court is purple and features the word “Northwestern” along one baseline and “Wildcats” along the other in white. Centered along one sideline is “NUsports.com” which is the Northwestern Athletics website, while the opposite sideline features the phrase “Chicago’s Big Ten Team.”
The words “Welsh-Ryan Arena” appear twice on the playing floor, once on each half of the court.
Four prospective designs were unveiled to fans Aug. 1 on the Northwestern Athletics Facebook page as well as NUsports.com. The final design was chosen through a combination of fan feedback and Northwestern athletics department staff members. The chosen design received the most Facebook “Likes” of the four options.
One option was almost all purple, and it developed a cult following after it got some traction in local and national media. However, it was not chosen.
The first competition scheduled to be held on the court is the Wildcat Classic hosted by the NU volleyball team on Sept. 16-17.