Craig Pearson
The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE —
An issue of 10 feet was a factor in preventing Indiana State and Terre Haute from serving as host for the 2011 IHSAA girls basketball state finals.
The Hulman Center basketball floor, Nellie and John Wooden Court, lacks the flexibility to go from 94 feet to 84 feet to serve the official specifications for high school basketball, which IHSAA Commissioner Blake Ress said proved to be a major impediment to the Executive Committee.
“I don’t think we ought to play on a floor of a different size,” Ress said.
The IHSAA announced Friday that the state finals would return its four championship games to the Fort Wayne Memorial Coliseum for the second straight year. Conseco Fieldhouse is unavailable through the 2012 season due to a conflict with the Big Ten women’s tournament, and Hinkle Fieldhouse is not an option because Butler is a potential host for the Horizon League conference championships each year.
While Hulman Center is host to Terre Haute North and Terre Haute South’s annual boys and girls basketball rivalry, the court’s unalterable length could prevent the facility from hosting future tournaments.
Terre Haute and Fort Wayne were the only cities to bid for the 2011 state finals. Fort Wayne beat out Ball State and Indiana University for the 2010 tournament.
Hulman Center, in conjunction with the Terre Haute Visitor’s and Convention Bureau and the Indiana State Foundation, “presented a good proposal,” Ress said Friday. “I guess it wasn’t as good as what we received from Fort Wayne.”
“When we got down to compare nuts and bolts, the Fort Wayne package was a better package.”
Hulman Center director Charlie Potts said it’s disappointing the court played a role. The old Hulman Center court was adjustable, but it is now used as the practice floor for the Sycamores in the ISU Arena.
The new court, which includes a graphic with John Wooden’s writing, was simply not made with the ability to be shortened.
“There was no practical way to design that court in such a way that you could reduce it 10 feet without reducing all the graphics,” said Potts, who added that it was presumed Indianapolis would remain a permanent home for basketball state finals. “We did not interpret that there was any demand for high school tournament games.”
Dave Patterson, director of the Terre Haute Visitor’s and Convention Bureau, hopes a solution can be found in the future.
“That’s a miss. The adaptability of that floor is a huge deal,” Patterson said. “What 10 feet means is 32,000 people not coming to this town. That’s a big deal. That’s something that we’ve had some initial discussions with the ISU Foundation. My thoughts are it should be addressed. My hopes are they see the long-term issues with that. To not have that adaptability does yourself a disservice.”
Potts said Hulman Center will continue to pursue hosting non-basketball events in addition to ISU basketball.
“It was honestly clear that [floor length] was an important consideration for them,” Potts said. “I don’t know where we go on that topic. I don’t know how to address that.”
Bidding for a future state finals could depend on the floor in addition to whether or not the Indiana State women’s basketball team has a schedule conflict, Potts said.
“We were very strong in our collaboration between the visitor’s bureau and the ISU Foundation,” Potts said. “I just know [the IHSAA Committee members] were very impressed with our operation. They know it from years ago when we did semistates.”
• Ress announces retirement — Commissioner Ress will retire as the leader of the IHSAA, effective Feb. 1, 2011.
“It’s just time to retire,” Ress said Friday. “I’ve enjoyed the job and all, but I’m 68 years old and all. It’s been a great job.”
Ress took over July 1, 2000.
“I think we’ve made some gains and advancements,” he said.
Ress takes pride in pushing the organization to enhance its Web site.
“We’re video streaming all our state championships,” he said. “Made leaps and bounds there. We’ve even moved some championships outside Indianapolis.”
Terre Haute received a three-year deal to host the IHSAA state cross country championships at LaVern Gibson Championship Course.
