College hoops' best floor designs

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Good morning! It was a quiet Monday, so I went with a visual approach for today’s Daily. Enjoy!

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1. A winning floor? Smart use of color and a bold design

Never was a fan of Oregon’s basketball court. The shading made it difficult to watch on TV, and I never understood why it was so brown. Were the Tall Firs supposed to be old and dead?

The new floor for Matthew Knight Arena Court still brings in some tree aspects and woods design, but the color now pops with plenty of green. It’s an awesome improvement.

Which only leaves a handful of college basketball floors that are aggressively designed and sometimes hard on the eyes when it comes to TV. Such as TCU’s geometric approach for Schollmaier Arena.

TCU could take a lesson from Oregon or Memphis. The floor at Fedex Forum used to be over the top and garish with too much blue. Now? The blue claw print is unique and striking.

I’d have the same rule for Cal State Bakersfield and the Icardo Center. Keep the roadrunner, but dial back the blue on the floor.

A handful of arenas showcase their state on the floor, such as WVU Coliseum (West Virginia), the Mullins Center (UMass), and Pinnacle Arena (Nebraska). And they’re nice, but I’d like a court with a bit more inspiration.

For example, Northern Kentucky’s floor at Truist Arena? That’s a perfectly stated, bold design for the Norse.

The Charles E. Smith Center for George Washington is a close second with its monuments on the floor.

Those are distinct floors with character that doesn’t overwhelm the entire floor. (Makes me wish The Thomas and Mack Center still had its old UNLV design.)

If understated isn’t the thing, big and bold also works. You always know when you’re playing at Syracuse and Kansas. These next three take the same approach; you just don’t see them on TV as often. That’s Notre Dame’s Purcell Pavilion.

If Oakland’s OU Credit Union O’rena didn’t have the big bear in the middle, it’d be a no from me because of the brown.

This is North Texas’ UNT Coliseum. That’s a big ol’ bird.

Also awesome are two in the Sunshine State. FAU’s Baldwin Arena is lined with palm trees and their giant Owl logo.

And just down the road is FIU’s Ocean Bank Convocation Center. Water, palm trees and hoops? I’ll take it.

Create a floor with a striking design that doesn’t overwhelm everything else, make sure it looks good on TV, and don’t overdo it with color. That’s the formula.

2. Dayton’s low-key NBA Draft success

The college hoops programs that produce the most future NBA players are the usual suspects. Kentucky, Duke, UCLA and Kansas had the most active players on NBA roster this season.

When even a single player gets drafted? That’s a big win for a program’s stature.

So here’s Dayton, about to have back-to-back drafts with a player taken. That’s no small thing.

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