Illinois-Based Connor Sports Makes, Installs Floor Underneath Players For NCAA Tournament
INDIANAPOLIS (CBS) -- You may have watched some college hoops this weekend, and there's a good chance you'll be watching the big game Monday night on CBS 2.
But you probably haven't paid much attention to floor underneath the players.
CBS 2's Lauren Victory took us inside the arena in Indianapolis for an inside look at a suburban company that creates the court watched 'round the world.
It's a seemingly minor detail at a major sporting event, among the crowd-pleasing three pointers and controversial foul calls.
"Not a lot of people think too much about the court," said James Gabour of Connor Sports.
But the floor of the court consumes Gabour. For the past 15 years, Illinois-based Connor Sports has been in charge of making and installing competition courts at the NCAA Tournament.
The set-up and breakdown was repeated for 12 different courts in Indianapolis.
"We do the same thing in San Antonio for the Women's tournament," Gabour said.
The NCAA floor-making process starts in the late fall in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
"We have to make sure the moisture content is right. You don't want anything too wet or too dry – otherwise, the wood starts to flex," Gabour said. "From there, they get assembled into individual panels that are four feet by seven feet long. We ship that off to get painted, put some finish on it."
Then, 394 of the panels, make up what millions see at home. After the championship nets are cut, the winning team can buy the entire court.
"In years past, we've had people just keep the center logo that they want to hang in their basketball facility," Gabour said. "We've had people cut it up for different fundraising ideas."
Otherwise, it's back to the shop. Connor Sports floors are often re-purposed.
Connor Sports wouldn't reveal how much the championship court costs. You'll also find their basketball floors at Chicago schools - including Northwestern, Loyola, and DePaul universities.
