New Auburn Arena Court Design

Since moving to the Auburn Arena in 2010, the Auburn basketball team has played on the same court design ever since. Six years worth of men’s and women’s basketball, gymnastics, and a few years of volleyball, among all the other events that have happened in the Arena, the old court had taken its fair share of wear. Court manufacturers recommend refinishing hardwood courts every eight to ten years or so, therefore Auburn was due to restore the wood, and what a better opportunity to mix up the design.

You can see the new design above. It’s not sure if it is completely finished or not, but there can’t be a whole lot left to do. As you can see, the SEC logo at the top of the key has no paint yet. I imagine the logo will soon be painted.

Auburn hinted at the new court design when they redid the practice court back in April.

(image via @AuburnMBB)

The biggest change is that the new court is blue-dominant, rather than prominently orange like the previous design. I enjoyed the old design as there was no large border around the court, and it gave it more of an open feeling. The new design hearkens back to the old Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum courts that featured the blue border for many years (probably the last 30 years of the building, as far as I’ve been able to see).

The biggest difference from the BEMC courts is that the paint underneath the basketball is blue, unlike the orange that has been used for years. It seems to be a nice way to bring aspects of the old court designs, but make it new for the Arena. It’s just sad to see orange nearly disappear from everywhere but the AU logo and the wordmark on the baselines.

(image via Auburn Athletics)

I was skeptical of the new design at first, before the orange was added, but after seeing it nearly finished, I have to say I like it. Again, I liked the previous design a lot, but the all-blue look will look great as well. As long as the stands and The Jungle continue to pack the Arena in orange shirts, it’s always going to look great. Many people on Twitter also mentioned that Auburn will sometimes wear their orange uniforms at home, and these uniforms will pop even more on a blue court rather than the old orange court.

The mock-up for the new design, with the unfinished SEC logo, is below. You can see other Auburn basketball court designs here.

Thoughts on the new court design? Do you like it more or less than the old design?