Indiana basketball: Branch McCracken Court gets minor makeover

Indiana University announced a series of minor tweaks to the design on Branch McCracken Court in Assembly Hall. See the video the athletic department released below:

The most noticeable difference from the video is the brightness of the court as a whole. Our friends over at the Hoosier Review posted this helpful side-by-side for comparison:

Not only are the whites whiter, but the natural wood color in between logos and the lettering appears to have been lightened as well. The white is most notable at midcourt, with the state of Indiana now eclipsing the red center circle lines that used to intersect it.

As a whole, the result is a lot more modern looking court that doesn’t stray too far from Indiana’s basketball history and tradition. My guess is that casual fans wouldn’t have noticed it without the press release and subsequent media coverage.

After sitting with the comparison images for a bit, the move feels like one that makes sense for a men’s program looking to move out of the shadows of past successes.

While the school’s colors are technically crimson and cream – the color of the old center court logo – Indiana rarely wears cream-colored uniforms in any sport. Indiana students and especially student-athletes are likely to know this, but visiting recruits or casual hoops fans may not.

Without knowing that about our school’s colorway, the old center court design looked retro in a way that maybe bordered on neglected/faded. That’s not necessarily the aesthetic you want in place as you try to set the program on a new path towards a prosperous future.

Now Branch McCracken court will more closely resemble Indiana’s classic white and red (we can call it crimson, but look at Bama or Harvard’s uniforms) home jerseys and warmups. It’s a small difference that may not even be noticeable on TV, but helps bring some freshness to a court and arena that’s been accused of being past its prime.