Dean College’s new basketball courts. (Photo Courtesy Justin Hill)
Dean College’s outside basketball courts have finally been renovated. This has excited students on the Dean College campus who use the court for pickup basketball games. The recent changes include new rims on both ends, an urban-designed court, nets, college-sized backboard, nets for pickle ball, and bins of placed items for people to use. Dean's new basketball courts have allowed students to meet people on campus. Before students got this surprising change, the courts did not always look like this.
The old basketball courts used to have a concrete ground floor which often caused people to fall due to the dusty pebbles on the court. The risk of injuries on the basketball court made students not want to play. The hoops on each side of the court did not have a cover glass, paint was missing the out-of-bounds lines and free throw line, the rims were uneven, the nets were in bad form, and the backboards were too small.
Because of this, Dean students often went to the Fletcher Park basketball court, which is just five minutes away from campus. Fletcher Park has a professionally constructed and designed basketball court with no worries about any injuries or missing things placed on the court.
In late August, Dean College made the call and had workers design the outside court that students finally deserved. Pieri Gym, the home of indoor sports at Dean also received a refinished new floor. Now was the time for the outside courts to get a change of their own.
Senior Evan Sapienza, a Sports Management major and regular at the outdoor basketball, had this to say about the new outdoor court: “I am happy that this happened, this is something that needed to be done and now here it is.”
The old basketball courts were something that needed to be fixed. Since I am a regular at these courts and a senior, this puts a smile on my face because this will bring the future of Dean students to play and create memories.