2010 NCAA Final Four court made in Amasa
A truck carries the maple court made for the Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament. The floor was made in Connor Sport Court International’s plant in Amasa, Mich., and was en route to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. A banner hung on the truck is signed by employees who worked on the floor in Amasa and in the Milwaukee area. AP Photo/Connor Sports Flooring, Jeff Morton
Once again the NCAA Final Four will be played on a court manufactured in the tiny town of Amasa, Michigan. The 2009 Final Four was played in our home state with our own MSU Spartans playing for the national championship. This time around the Final Four is in Indianapolis, and once again MSU (my alma matar) will be representing Michigan with Yooper All-Star, Iron Mountain native, and NMU alum Tom Izzo representing the Upper Peninsula.
2010 Final Four court time lapse
The court is manufactured by Connor Sport Court. The Salt Lake City, UT based company looks to the tiny town of Amasa (population 250 on a busy day) to produce a large portion of their world class courts. They are also providing the court for the Women’s Final Four in San Antonio and according to their Web site have over 50,000 installations worldwide including courts for over 50 NBA players and coaches including the likes of Shaquille O’Neal, Dick Vitale, Mohammed Ali and others. A pretty impressive resume and incredible to think that some of these are being produced in the Upper Peninsula.
The four-building complex in Amasa employs 125 people (remember there are about 250 in the town of Amasa) and is the largest full-time employer in Iron County. One source for the maple wood is Timber Products Company, which owns a facility in Munising, MI. They produce nearly 750 courts annually, all the way from high schools to the NBA. I suggest checking out the Niles Daily Star where they have a great description of the process of building the floor, from cutting, grading, assembling, disassembling, painting, and eventually shipping the court.
Let’s go Tom Izzo! Bring the championship back to MSU and the State of Michigan.
