Daily Egyptian Reporter 10

SIUC basketball senior forward Rashad Tucker’s experiences last season on the old SIU Arena floor were similar to his high-school playing days at Crispus Attucks Park.

Last year’s court was an outside court, Tucker, a Carbondale native, said. It had no wood on it.

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But thanks to a $500,000 donation to Saluki Futures by the family of Marion Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. president and CEO Harry L. Crisp II, Tucker and rest of the Saluki basketball team no longer have to feel like they are battling on a concrete playground.

Saluki Futures, a fund-raising effort designed to benefit the athletic facilities and programs, put the Crisp family donation toward the construction of a new Arena floor. The floor, completed Oct. 6, is named Harry L. Crisp Sr. Court, in honor of Crisp’s father.

Since the placement of the new court, Tucker has noticed a substantial difference in the floor’s flexibility.

It’s like playing outside and coming into an indoor court, he said. This floor is so soft it will throw you in the air. If you played on that floor we had last year and then came to this one, you can tell a big difference.

Members of the Saluki women’s team also have noticed the improvements.

It’s like pillows, sophomore center Melaniece Bardley said. It helps my running. You can hit the floor and just go with it.

Harry Crisp Sr. Court features a support system, which includes two layers of plywood, compared to the old floor’s one-half inch layer of cork. The old floor’s lack of padding caused players to have several minor injuries, such as shin splints and knee problems.

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Senior guard Shane Hawkins knows he has suffered damage from three years of playing on the old floor, but he said the new court will impress newcomers to the team

This is a great floor, but I don’t know if I personally will gain much from it because of the previous three years, Hawkins said. To have a floor this nice, and with the new logo, I think the players coming in as freshmen or JC (junior college) players at least won’t pay the price of the old floor.