Big 12 transitioning to hardwood court at tournament amid complaints about LED glass floor

The Big 12 is transitioning to a hardwood court at the conference tournament, the league announced late Thursday night. The conference has been using an LED glass floor for games, which resulted in complaints that the surface was slippery.

Beginning with last week’s Big 12 women’s basketball tournament, the conference unveiled the LED glass court. It allowed for different displays and court designs at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, and was in place for the entire women’s tournament.

However, after three days of the men’s tournament, the league is making the shift to hardwood. Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said the league heard feedback from teams and chose to go away from the glass court.

“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,” Yormark said in a statement. “We look forward to a great semifinals and championship game.”

Last month, the Big 12 announced both the men’s and women’s conference tournaments would take place on the LED court, designed by Germany-based ASB GlassFloor. It was part of a new innovation for the league and marked the first time LED court technology was used for an official sporting event in the United States.

However, during the Big 12 women’s basketball tournament, some players complained the floor was slippery. Others said they got used to it and acknowledged how unique it was to play on a different surface.

Bill Self: Big 12 did ‘the right thing’

Shortly after the Big 12 made its announcement, Kansas head coach Bill Self said he agreed with the decision. While he didn’t notice any issues during KU’s win over TCU on Thursday, he also noticed some players slipping throughout the tournament.

“I personally didn’t have any involvement in any decision that goes on,” Self said. “If the other coaches are doing it and have juice, then they’ve got more than I got because I didn’t have any involvement with that at all. I think it’s the right thing to do, though. … I, personally, didn’t think it was as big a deal.

“But if you study it and watch the games throughout the day, and maybe some tonight, it seemed like, to me, there was a lot of steps that end up sliding one or two inches. It just didn’t look quite as clean. It’s a cool-looking floor, but I’m excited that the talk tomorrow will be about the semifinals as opposed to the court.”