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New hardwood being produced for Mini-Dome

By Kelly Hodge
Press Managing Sports Editor
khodge@johnsoncitypress.com

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East Tennessee State got more than two decades of service out of its portable basketball floor. It’s time for a change.

The university has ordered a new maple playing surface and will have it in place this fall. The floor is being built by Robbins Sports Surfaces of Cincinnati, at a cost of about $85,000, and should be completed by the middle of August.

“It’s just time that we do this,” said athletic director Dave Mullins. “I think we’ve had our wooden floor for about 21 years now. If you’ll remember, we used to play on the old tartan floor before that. We’ve totally sanded and revarnished the wood several different times. It’s just had a lot of wear, a lot of use, and it has a few dead spots now.

“These things are probably designed for about 10 years of use. We’ve stretched ours to twice that.”

Mullins said the new floor will have a much-improved design, with metal underpinnings instead of wood that will make the pieces more durable as they are moved around. The center of the court will feature the menacing Buc-head logo, with a closely cropped view of the glaring eyes on the baselines. There will be a slightly different shading of the wood inside the 3-point arcs.

“We looked at a lot of different designs and possibilities, what some of the NBA teams and other colleges were doing,” said Mullins. “Coach (Murry) Bartow wanted a clean look without a lot of different graphics. We tried to come up with something a little more contemporary and fun for the fans. Our ticket manager, Brandon Hudson, is very good with graphic design, and he captured what we think will be a great look.”

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Mullins said the interest generated by last season’s Atlantic Su n Conference championship team helped spur record marketing revenues for the fiscal year that ended June 30.

“It was a difficult year overall with the economy, but we put some things in place we can build on as we generate more revenue internally,” he said. “We had $390,000 in ad sponsorships and $301,000 in services from companies. BASA contributions toward the general fund were right at $350,000. With basketball tickets, we set a sales goal of $170,000 and ended up with $197,000, so that was positive.”

Mullins said almost 40 percent of last year’s season-ticket base of 1,680 have already been sold.

“Usually at this time we don’t have 15 to 20 percent,” he said. “It will be the first of August before we send out promotions for new season-ticket packages. We’ve had an increase in season tickets the last three years — from 1,200 to 1,400 to 1,600 — and if that trend continues, coming off a championship season, we should have 1,800 or more.”

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That number could become a concern for the throwback game in Brooks Gym on Dec. 10.

There are about 2,100 seats in the upper sections of the old building, and ETSU officials would like to see most of the seating around the court occupied by students. Total capacity will be about 3,000.

“We’re going to be sending out some information with the ticket packet about seating assignments and how they’re going to be done based on the location of seats in the Dome,” said Mullins. “We’re going to ask all season-ticket holders who are not able to attend to make their tickets available to friends and family or notify us so we can be sure all the tickets are sold.

“It’s going to be a great, fun atmosphere and we want to play to a full house. I hope the students really get into the spirit of it.”

The throwback theme seems to be picking up steam.

Tom Chilton has agreed to return and have his No. 42 jersey re-retired. The Bucs will wear uniforms patterned after the 1968 team (no word yet on whether that includes short shorts with the sewn-in belts). Concessions that were popular in that era will be sold (no word yet on whether those prices will be in effect). Fans may even be asked to dress the part.

“It’s kind of growing as we have various meetings,” said Mullins. “We’re looking at some things to do for the fans and some student promotions, maybe a retro look for the fans.”

There will, of course, also be a basketball game. The Bucs face North Georgia, the only Division II opponent on their schedule.

“We didn’t select one of our conference games or bigger Division I games because we want big crowds for those games,” said Mullins. “This is a novelty and something we can all enjoy for a night.”

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Jarvis Jones appears to be recovering nicely from knee surgery in April.

The sophomore guard has been shooting a little bit and will start jogging next week. He had the ACL in his left knee repaired on April 22.

“I feel pretty good right now,” Jones said Wednesday before ducking into the training room. “I should be ready by the start of practice.”

Jones, a left-hander from Memphis, averaged 3.3 points in 10.6 minutes per game as a freshman. He came to ETSU with the knee issue, having injured it on Valentines Day of his senior season at Mitchell High School.

“It didn’t bother me last year like it did when I first hurt it,” said Jones, “but I couldn’t move like I wanted. I’m tired of wearing that brace.”