The personality of a college basketball program is mostly thought to be a reflection of its coach, players and fans. There is another factor in this formula, one incapable of displaying human emotion, yet still managing to have a life of its own.
It is a team's home court.
It can be a cramped, crazy gym, such as Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium, as suffocating as the defense the Blue Devils often play. It can be as roomy and rowdy as Kentucky's Rupp Arena, the perfect stage for the racehorse style the Wildcats have used for generations.
And sometimes, in a cavernous building, such as North Carolina's Dean E. Smith Center - commonly known as "The Dean Dome" - it can seem more like a basketball museum. Former Florida State and Dunbar star Sam Cassell labeled it appropriately after playing there for the first time. "A cheese and wine crowd," he called it.
When a team moves from one venue into another, as Maryland will do this season in leaving overheated, often hyped-up and significantly historic Cole Field House for the creature comforts of the state-of-the-art Comcast Center, the scrutiny of its home court intensifies.
"This is a great opportunity for our players," Maryland coach Gary Williams said last month shortly after the $108 million facility was officially opened. "They want to showcase this place. They want to show how good the arena is, but also show that we're a good basketball team."
Williams is not big on introductions.
"We can't waste a lot of time looking up at the lights or whatever you check out in a new building," said Williams, who'll be starting his 14th season as head coach at his alma mater. "Midnight Madness will take care of all that stuff."
Midnight Madness, held last month, might have loosened the rims and eased some of the logistical kinks both in terms of getting to the new gym and getting around in it. But it will take longer to answer many questions about the kind of atmosphere the 17,950-seat on-campus arena will provide for the Terrapins.
Will the defending national champions be as successful at home this season as they were last season, when they finished unbeaten (15-0) for only the fifth time in school history?
Will the 4,000 students who'll ring the court and serve as a human backboard behind one basket create the level of noise, distraction and general lunacy that existed at Cole?
Will the temperature gauge in the new arena suddenly be turned up a few degrees when some of Maryland's biggest rivals, particularly those despised Blue Devils and hated Tar Heels, pay their first visit?
Those questions will start being addressed Tuesday, when the men's team plays its first exhibition game of the season against the Harlem Globetrotters, beginning at 7.
The more legitimate comparisons with old king Cole - particularly the team's home record - will start being made when Maryland plays the first of 16 games at Comcast Center this season against Miami (Ohio) on Nov. 24.
"The way we had it at Cole, that helped us out a lot, as loud as it was, as hot as it was, that worked in our advantage," said senior forward-center Tahj Holden. "This being bigger and more advanced, it might not be as loud."
Roomy with a view
One of the reasons Williams came to Maryland as a high school player out of South Jersey was that Cole reminded him of the fabled Palestra in Philadelphia, just bigger. As much as he hated to leave Cole last spring, Williams said a new facility is vital to the program.
"It's as good as any on-campus arena, if not the best," Williams said. "This place was built for basketball. It's not [just] an arena they play basketball in. If you've been up top yet, it's just incredible how well you can see from the highest seats. They did a great job of enclosing the basketball floor."
Yet, there is always a period of adjustment.
Players might discover they prefer one basket to another or that the ball bounces differently on one side of the floor. Fans could figure out which of the 37 bathrooms has the shortest line and which of a smorgasbord of concession stands serves the hottest food.
And Williams might have to be patient - not one of his typical character traits - for his team to take full advantage of its new digs. Based on what other teams have done after making a similar move, the degree of continued success varies.
At Syracuse, for example, the Orangemen's 57-game home winning streak was broken in their last regular-season game in 1980 - prompting then-Georgetown coach John Thompson to bellow into the public address microphone, "Manley Field House is officially closed" - and the team went 11-3 in its first regular season at the Carrier Dome.
"We moved from such a small place to such a big place, and it really took time getting used to it," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "I don't think they have as big of a move. You're going up to a little bigger [capacity], but not much bigger. I don't think it will be as significant as ours was."
One thing in Maryland's favor is that Cole Field House was the largest on-campus facility of its kind when it was completed in 1955.
"Cole was not that small," Boeheim said. "It was a pretty good-sized building. What are they going up [in capacity]? And it's on campus. I think they'll have as much [noise and atmosphere], maybe more. I don't see it being a problem at all."
Easy transition game?
Legendary coach Dean Smith agrees.
Smith, whose Tar Heels moved from venerable Carmichael Auditorium during the 1985-86 season, said, "As soon as they practice in it, there will be a home-court advantage."
From what transpired at Midnight Madness, it doesn't appear the Terps will have that big a transition.
The roars that ricocheted around the new facility were deafening, and the sea of red seats (and hats and shirts) gave Comcast Center as intimate a feel as Cole had on its best day. It is what one of its designers envisioned when the plans were drawn up.
"The terminology we're using is to make it feel like a pit - a snake pit," Brad Clark, design director for Ellerbe Becket, said in an interview with The Sun earlier this year.
"It's a great facility," former Terps star Jim O'Brien said after the alumni game. "Nationally, it rates up there with anyone. That's part of the allure of getting kids here. I'd like to see the seats a little closer and give it even more of a home-court advantage. I'm sure they will."
One new feature at Comcast, not possible at Cole, is the string of luxury boxes above the sidelines.
Selling for a typical annual fee of $95,000 each, the luxury boxes will help generate revenue needed to pay off the debt incurred by the university for its share of the building (about $49 million). Revenue will also come from concessions and the Maryland team store.
"We are certainly working on paying it off, as anyone would do with a mortgage," said associate athletic director Joe Hull, who has overseen the project from the university's end.
Williams seems confident the arena's most unique feature - the sheer wall of students that rises dramatically at a 34.3-degree angle - will become its most intimidating as well. That side of the arena was built into a hill once used for sledding.
Up against the wall
It is the side of the court visiting teams will shoot on during the second half.
"We flipped a coin on that, and it just came out that way," Williams said jokingly.
Except for risking vertigo, those seats will be prime choice.
"It's awesome. It really gets us close to the action," said Mark Tanious, a junior from Joppatowne.
It was enough to persuade Zack Noble, a freshman from Philadelphia, to change his lifelong allegiance.
"I'll never root for Duke again because of this atmosphere," Noble said.
He'd better not, particularly if he gets a seat on Jan. 18, the day the Blue Devils come to town. By then, Williams, his players and the team's fans will have nearly a dozen games under their collective belt.
And the new place will have started to feel like old king Cole.
It is a team's home court.
It can be a cramped, crazy gym, such as Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium, as suffocating as the defense the Blue Devils often play. It can be as roomy and rowdy as Kentucky's Rupp Arena, the perfect stage for the racehorse style the Wildcats have used for generations.
And sometimes, in a cavernous building, such as North Carolina's Dean E. Smith Center - commonly known as "The Dean Dome" - it can seem more like a basketball museum. Former Florida State and Dunbar star Sam Cassell labeled it appropriately after playing there for the first time. "A cheese and wine crowd," he called it.
When a team moves from one venue into another, as Maryland will do this season in leaving overheated, often hyped-up and significantly historic Cole Field House for the creature comforts of the state-of-the-art Comcast Center, the scrutiny of its home court intensifies.
"This is a great opportunity for our players," Maryland coach Gary Williams said last month shortly after the $108 million facility was officially opened. "They want to showcase this place. They want to show how good the arena is, but also show that we're a good basketball team."
Williams is not big on introductions.
"We can't waste a lot of time looking up at the lights or whatever you check out in a new building," said Williams, who'll be starting his 14th season as head coach at his alma mater. "Midnight Madness will take care of all that stuff."
Midnight Madness, held last month, might have loosened the rims and eased some of the logistical kinks both in terms of getting to the new gym and getting around in it. But it will take longer to answer many questions about the kind of atmosphere the 17,950-seat on-campus arena will provide for the Terrapins.
Will the defending national champions be as successful at home this season as they were last season, when they finished unbeaten (15-0) for only the fifth time in school history?
Will the 4,000 students who'll ring the court and serve as a human backboard behind one basket create the level of noise, distraction and general lunacy that existed at Cole?
Will the temperature gauge in the new arena suddenly be turned up a few degrees when some of Maryland's biggest rivals, particularly those despised Blue Devils and hated Tar Heels, pay their first visit?
Those questions will start being addressed Tuesday, when the men's team plays its first exhibition game of the season against the Harlem Globetrotters, beginning at 7.
The more legitimate comparisons with old king Cole - particularly the team's home record - will start being made when Maryland plays the first of 16 games at Comcast Center this season against Miami (Ohio) on Nov. 24.
"The way we had it at Cole, that helped us out a lot, as loud as it was, as hot as it was, that worked in our advantage," said senior forward-center Tahj Holden. "This being bigger and more advanced, it might not be as loud."
"It's as good as any on-campus arena, if not the best," Williams said. "This place was built for basketball. It's not [just] an arena they play basketball in. If you've been up top yet, it's just incredible how well you can see from the highest seats. They did a great job of enclosing the basketball floor."
Yet, there is always a period of adjustment.
Players might discover they prefer one basket to another or that the ball bounces differently on one side of the floor. Fans could figure out which of the 37 bathrooms has the shortest line and which of a smorgasbord of concession stands serves the hottest food.
And Williams might have to be patient - not one of his typical character traits - for his team to take full advantage of its new digs. Based on what other teams have done after making a similar move, the degree of continued success varies.
At Syracuse, for example, the Orangemen's 57-game home winning streak was broken in their last regular-season game in 1980 - prompting then-Georgetown coach John Thompson to bellow into the public address microphone, "Manley Field House is officially closed" - and the team went 11-3 in its first regular season at the Carrier Dome.
"We moved from such a small place to such a big place, and it really took time getting used to it," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "I don't think they have as big of a move. You're going up to a little bigger [capacity], but not much bigger. I don't think it will be as significant as ours was."
One thing in Maryland's favor is that Cole Field House was the largest on-campus facility of its kind when it was completed in 1955.
"Cole was not that small," Boeheim said. "It was a pretty good-sized building. What are they going up [in capacity]? And it's on campus. I think they'll have as much [noise and atmosphere], maybe more. I don't see it being a problem at all."
Smith, whose Tar Heels moved from venerable Carmichael Auditorium during the 1985-86 season, said, "As soon as they practice in it, there will be a home-court advantage."
From what transpired at Midnight Madness, it doesn't appear the Terps will have that big a transition.
The roars that ricocheted around the new facility were deafening, and the sea of red seats (and hats and shirts) gave Comcast Center as intimate a feel as Cole had on its best day. It is what one of its designers envisioned when the plans were drawn up.
"The terminology we're using is to make it feel like a pit - a snake pit," Brad Clark, design director for Ellerbe Becket, said in an interview with The Sun earlier this year.
"It's a great facility," former Terps star Jim O'Brien said after the alumni game. "Nationally, it rates up there with anyone. That's part of the allure of getting kids here. I'd like to see the seats a little closer and give it even more of a home-court advantage. I'm sure they will."
One new feature at Comcast, not possible at Cole, is the string of luxury boxes above the sidelines.
Selling for a typical annual fee of $95,000 each, the luxury boxes will help generate revenue needed to pay off the debt incurred by the university for its share of the building (about $49 million). Revenue will also come from concessions and the Maryland team store.
"We are certainly working on paying it off, as anyone would do with a mortgage," said associate athletic director Joe Hull, who has overseen the project from the university's end.
Williams seems confident the arena's most unique feature - the sheer wall of students that rises dramatically at a 34.3-degree angle - will become its most intimidating as well. That side of the arena was built into a hill once used for sledding.
"We flipped a coin on that, and it just came out that way," Williams said jokingly.
Except for risking vertigo, those seats will be prime choice.
"It's awesome. It really gets us close to the action," said Mark Tanious, a junior from Joppatowne.
It was enough to persuade Zack Noble, a freshman from Philadelphia, to change his lifelong allegiance.
"I'll never root for Duke again because of this atmosphere," Noble said.
He'd better not, particularly if he gets a seat on Jan. 18, the day the Blue Devils come to town. By then, Williams, his players and the team's fans will have nearly a dozen games under their collective belt.
And the new place will have started to feel like old king Cole.