By Sara Biela (@sarabielaa ):
Five monumental Spartan warriors baring initial-inscribed shields rest beneath the soles of athletes’ shoes as they defend home-court advantage.
Walt McPherson Court, named after the most winningest basketball coach in SJSU history, was ranked the No. 1 best hardwood art court in the nation by the NCAA on Feb. 21.
“It’s a great honor,” said Blake Sasaki, senior associate athletic director at SJSU. “It’s really refreshing to hear from a reputable media outlet like the NCAA to actually applaud our court and the design of it.”
When the Spartans entered the Mountain West conference in 2013, it was time to fortify a 5-to-10 year court design.
Former athletic director Gene Bleymaier was given the opportunity to create the new design and he knew exactly what he wanted.
“Gene had a concept in his mind of having Spartans coming out of the court,” Sasaki said.
Before coming to San Jose, Bleymaier spent three decades at Boise State and is still known for inventing the nationally recognized blue turf at Albertsons Stadium.
Fast forward 27 years, that same creative mentality went into designing the new Walt McPherson Court.
Sasaki alongside Bleymaier and former marketing director Michael Beaubien went through a two-month process before making the design a reality.
“We wanted some type of human Spartans to protect our court,” Sasaki said. “They’ve got the shields and the swords, and it’s this intimidating factor of, ‘we need to protect our home court.’”
Once the court was finished in the summer of 2013, the initial reaction from the public was the exact opposite of the expectation.
“When the court was designed, there were some non-traditional media outlets that actually criticized the court,” Sasaki said. “We kind of looked it as any media coverage is good media coverage. People were talking about the court and talking about our program.”
The ones who represent the program are none other than the Spartan athletes who know the court and its design from baseline to baseline.
Once the Top-5 coolest courts were released on the NCAA March Madness’ Twitter page on Feb. 21, women’s basketball senior guard Myzhanique Ladd knew there was no other competition.
“I saw the video on Twitter,” Ladd said. “The other ones were just ok… our court is the best court.”
Not only do basketball players know every inch of the court, but the ones who fire up the crowd know every floor board as well.
Senior cheerleader Mariah Helton has performed on the court for four years at ground level and high above the armed warriors.
“I think the design is very unique and sets us apart from other universities,” Helton said. “I don’t get to appreciate it as much when I am in a game, but I always love seeing it whenever I go as a spectator.”
Spartans — known for their great courage and strong, aggressive presence — represent a visual for the fan base.
“The design really represents our Spartan culture of one family,” Helton concluded.