It’s a serene Thursday afternoon, and on a nearly empty Saxon court, cousins Chris and Korey Fleischman are enjoying a friendly shootaround.
Simultaneously, there are throngs of basketball lovers waiting to get on a court for a pickup game at the crowded Wooden Center.
As a casual basketball player, first-year computer science and engineering student Korey Fleischman can take advantage of the empty courts to meet Chris on occasion to catch up with some hoops.
“I come out here to shoot around with him every once in a while,” Korey Fleischman said.
Fourth-year creative writing student Chris Fleischman also enjoys these sessions and visits Saxon about four times a week to compete in pickup games. Although these slow hours exist where the courts are wide open, peak hours bring crowds of basketball fans to Saxon every day.
Opened during the 2009 winter quarter, the Saxon courts replaced the Sunset Canyon Recreation Center courts as the only alternative to the Wooden Center for pickup basketball on campus after the construction of the Spieker Aquatics Center began.
Stadium lights surround the courts, allowing students to play even after the sun goes down. On weekdays, the courts are open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., and on weekends, they are open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The courts give a playground feel to the game with a blacktop surface and a surrounding chain-link fence that cages in any errant balls from rolling down the street or the hill. To complement the asphalt, the courts boast forgiving fiberglass backboards and sturdy rims that second-year mechanical engineering student Ben Kolnowski respects.
“The courts have high-quality backboards and rims compared to other outdoor courts that I have played on,” Kolnowski said.
Even with the high-grade rims, each of the four courts in the complex are shorter and narrower than regulation size, affecting the game’s pace, as no long fast breaks or aggressive cuts can be made safely.
“The court’s size limits the competitiveness because you cannot push it to the limit due to the small boundaries,” Kolnowski said.
With the limited space, the courts have no three-point arcs, as the half-court line measures about the same distance as a standard three-point line would. To make up for this absence of some familiar court lines, the two middle courts contain a confusing excess of lines in the form of extra, off-centered keys and extended sidelines.
Adding to the court’s irregular dimensions, the proximity of the fence to the baseline often prevents any daring effort to save the ball, as it is dangerous on these areas of the court.
With these unique court dimensions, players adapt by laying out some new rules for the game.
“I like to play 3 vs. 3 full court, because you can get enough spacing to run a faster paced game,” Kolnowski said.
Typically, games follow the 4 vs. 4 format to allow for more people to participate at one time. As a narrow court with eight players can become clogged, most games designate double sidelines and fences as the boundaries. This means that the sidelines for the adjacent courts become the new sidelines for the middle court, and the fence replaces the baseline as the boundary line under the basket.
Even though the Saxon courts transform the traditional rules of the game, many students still come out to play every day, either during daylight or under the lights.
Third-year transfer Design | Media Arts student Andrew Levy plays at Saxon twice a week, because he favors the smaller crowds compared to the Wooden Center.
“I prefer to play at Saxon, because the wait to play at Wooden is so long,” Levy said.
Along with availability, proximity also comes into the picture, as the courts are situated very close to the Hill and nearby apartments.
“I come to play at Saxon because it is only a short five-minute walk from my apartment,” Chris Fleischman said.
Although Saxon offers a very accessible option to play basketball, Chris Fleischman believes it lacks the competition that the Wooden Center constantly boasts.
“Wooden offers more opportunities for highly competitive pickup games,” Chris Fleischman said.
In contrast to Saxon’s blacktop, the Wooden Center’s three regulation-size courts consist of hardwood floors, which draw the more seasoned and serious basketball players into the facility.
First-year physics student Shane Roberts plays at the Wooden Center four times a week, along with two times at Saxon. Roberts prefers the Wooden Center’s more professional facilities to Saxon’s accessibility.
“It is more convenient to play at Saxon, but the level of play and the courts at Wooden are better,” Roberts said.
As this high level of competition at the Wooden Center may be intimidating to some, the Saxon courts provide an atmosphere for all levels of basketball players. The crowds at Saxon every night prove that the love of the game overcomes the non-traditional, and, at times, frustrating courts.