Over the past week, we've seen pictures of the new court design at the XFINITY Center but on Friday the University released the first official closeups of the new court design via a video and some photos:
Maryland Pride engrained in hardwood... Check out the NEW Gary Williams Court at XFINITY Center! #FearTheTurtle http://t.co/hnI1yZooSP
— Maryland Terrapins (@umterps) August 28, 2015
One of the really cool parts of the new design is the return of the block "M" at center court. For the past several years, the center court has featured MARYLAND, with the flag motif under the letters. The return of the M is a nice touch that most Maryland fans will probably appreciate, even if it's not exactly the same as it was previously.
The sidelines are draped with the iconic Maryland state flag... pic.twitter.com/TghU6Crnj4
— Maryland Terrapins (@umterps) August 28, 2015
Maryland has incorporated the Maryland flag design into almost all of their facility fields but hadn't really done so in basketball, until now. Having the sideline trim pull in portions of the Maryland flag gives the court a nice, distinctively Maryland touch without going overboard.
The classic red paint with white lettering "Maryland" & "Terrapins" grace both baselines... pic.twitter.com/OFeeoI5MKg
— Maryland Terrapins (@umterps) August 28, 2015
When we saw photos of what we thought was the finished court design earlier in the week, the "Maryland" and "Terrapins" on the baseline were yellow. It appears that yellow was only part of the trim for the letters as they now appear white in the final photos released today.
#Legendary pic.twitter.com/6xfsQNmcwl
— Maryland Terrapins (@umterps) August 28, 2015
Here's a nice closeup of the Gary Williams signature, showing the new block M at center court and other aspects of the new design.
HOME! #FearTheTurtle pic.twitter.com/MNNS7m3v6m
— Maryland Terrapins (@umterps) August 28, 2015
Finally, here's a full shot of the entire court in all of its glory.
What do you all think? Do you love it? Do you wish they did something else?