Gage Johnson
Sports Editor
gjohnson17@murraystate.edu
Murray State Athletics unveiled a new floor in the CFSB Center just in time for the start of the 2019-20 Racer basketball season.
On Wednesday, Oct. 30, 255 pieces of the floor that has been used for nearly 10 years came up in just a few hours, and Racer fans will soon have the opportunity to bid on the old flooring.
“The lifespan on these floors are depending on the amount of times that they’re pulled up and so on or anywhere in that seven to 10 [year] range,” Assistant Athletic Director for Facilities and Game Management Brock Rydecki said. “This floor went in the spring of 2010 after our run in the NCAA Tournament beating Vanderbilt, so we’re easily approaching 10 years.”
The new floor has seen some use before, as it was part of the biggest stage in college basketball for the last two seasons.
“We were able to get an NCAA Tournament floor,” Rydecki said. “This floor was a Sweet Sixteen floor this past year, so it’s kind of neat to bring that to Murray. We’ve seen eight games and 16 to 20 practices.”
The floor was designed by Praters Flooring, which has done floors for the OVC Tournament, the Olympics and the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets and Atlanta Hawks.
The new court remains mostly loyal to past CFSB Center floors, with only a few exceptions. The OVC logos are in the paint, while the words “CFSB Center” are highlighted and mirrored on the sidelines.
A true boundary line was also added, and the perimeter of the floor was extended. How Murray State Athletics created the ends of the floor is something nobody has ever done and Rydecki says it’s going to be great for players and media members.
“We started at six feet on the end of the court and angled that line to seven feet near the basket with a run-off lane on each side of the basket,” Rydecki said. “So essentially there’s more space for run-off for our players. The company we’re working through told us we were the first facility to ever do this. We’re just trying to be innovative and increase player safety as best we can while also providing service for our media that covers our game and such.”
Along with new goals to replace the old ones, which had been in the CFSB Center since 1998, the $150,000 investment is one that Rydecki can’t thank the fans enough for making happen.
“It’s all about planning our resources and having the support that we do from our Racer club, our donors, season ticket holders,” Rydecki said. “Without their support we wouldn’t be here. So as much as it’s for our student-athletes, it’s also a ‘thank you’ to our fans.”
If Racer fans want a part of Murray State history, in the near future they can bid on a limited supply of two-foot by four-foot pieces of the old floor starting at $200. Pieces with the center court logo, baselines, conference/corporate marks and free-throw lanes will also be up for bid starting at $2,500.