KANSAS CITY — The Big 12’s LED floor simply glitched out completely.
Commissioner Brett Yormark made the choice late Thursday evening to make a drastic swap earlier than Friday’s Big 12 Tournament semifinals. The controversial glass floor is gone and a conventional hardwood court is being introduced in and put in in a single day.
Yormark gave CBS Sports this assertion: “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. We look forward to a great semifinals and championship game.”
No. 1 seed Arizona will face No. 5 Iowa State at 7 pm ET and No. 2 seed Houston will tackle No. 3 seed Kansas afterward within the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament on Friday.
“We have a tremendous final four tomorrow night,” Yorkmark advised CBS Sports. “That should be the story.”
The commissioner started making ready for the opportunity of a change noon Thursday, after an apparent improve in slippage through the Texas Tech-Iowa State recreation. Red Raiders All-Big 12 guard Christian Anderson was injured halfway by way of the second half of Tech’s loss to Iowa Statethough Anderson mentioned afterward the damage wasn’t severe and he expects to recuperate quickly.
The ensuing Arizona vs. UCF recreation on Thursday did not appear to have an irregular quantity of sliding, however an uptick in slips was additionally evident in (*12*)’s win over BYU on Thursday evening. The mid-tournament determination to change the taking part in floor is unprecedented in faculty athletics, but in addition consultant of Yormark’s willingness to not be cussed at all prices. He was all the time open to this chance and wasn’t going to resist if the coaches and gamers needed the change. The league’s alternative to play its tournament on an LED glass floor drew equal components intrigue and criticism, however gamers saying the taking part in floor was slippery was turning into a typical grievance.
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Yormark was positive to have conversations with all 4 coaches taking part in in Friday’s semifinals — Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd, Iowa State’s TJ Otzelberger, Houston’s Kelvin Sampson and Kansas‘ Bill Self — and the coaches consented with and endorsed the concept of altering the taking part in floor for the three greatest video games remaining within the tournament.
After noting the damage to Anderson and acknowledging the fragile nature of his personal star Darryn Peterson’s season-long availability issues, Self advised CBS Sports that altering the hardwood was “the right thing to do.”
Otzelberger, whose staff has already received twice on the LED floor, advised CBS Sports he was open and absolutely dedicated to taking part in on the glass floor if that is what Yormark would’ve determined.
“I think commissioner Yormark’s intent was to broaden the scope, think outside the box and that was probably the right decision. And I’m sure after what the narrative is now, he’ll make the right decision,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson mentioned. “If this was a concert tonight and we had a game tomorrow, no different than that. … Nobody had an advantage or disadvantage, but I think for our league, he’ll make the right decision.”
The change is just not anticipated to be a logistical difficulty; the Big 12 all the time had a backup plan to name in a crew and set up the hardwood court in case of an emergency, sources mentioned. The changeover started shortly after Thursday evening’s last recreation between Kansas and TCU and can be put in and prepared to go within the morning for groups to take part of their customary day-of-game shootarounds.
