Big 12 court controversy: Brett Yormark addresses decision to ditch LED floor for hardwood

The morning after Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark made the decision to ditch the LED glass court at the 2026 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament, he joined The Pat McAfee Show to explain the move.

The state-of-the-art glass court was used for the entirety of last week’s Big 12 women’s tournament and the first three days of this week’s men’s tournament. Despite several women’s players complaining that the digital floor was “slippery” and “slick” last week, no change was made. But heading into the semifinals of the men’s conference tournament on Friday, the Big 12 opted to make a change.

“Anytime you innovate, there are going to be risks. You know that going in,” Yormark told McAfee. “I think it’s fair to say you never except 100% buy-in. That being said, there were mixed reviews. Some players liked it, and some players didn’t. There were discussions about making adjustments, and there was discussion about potential slippage. Following the games yesterday (Thursday), I met with the four semifinal coaches (Tommy Lloyd, T.J. Otzelberger, Kelvin Sampson, and Bill Self).

“I had been encouraging feedback all week. I was very intentional about that, and we decided last night that for us, most importantly, we’ve got four of the biggest brands in men’s college basketball competition tonight. The conversation should be about those teams and not the court. I made that decision ultimately, following the feedback I heard from some of the key stakeholders,” Yormark continued. “We feel good about it, because we feel like it was the right thing to do. I often tell my staff that we’re in the good judgement business. It’s critically important to make good judgment. I made the judgment call last night, and I stand by it.”

Bill Self: Big 12 did ‘the right thing’ by shifting to hardwood court

Shortly after the Big 12 made its announcement, Kansas head coach Bill Self said he agreed with the decision. While he didn’t notice any issues during the Jayhawks’ 78-73 win over TCU on Thursday, he also noticed some players slipping throughout the tournament. No. 3 seed Kansas faces No. 2 seed Houston in the Semis Friday night.

“I personally didn’t have any involvement in any decision that goes on,” Self said. “If the other coaches are doing it and have juice, then they’ve got more than I got because I didn’t have any involvement with that at all. I think it’s the right thing to do, though. … I, personally, didn’t think it was as big a deal.

“But if you study it and watch the games throughout the day, and maybe some tonight, it seemed like, to me, there was a lot of steps that end up sliding one or two inches. It just didn’t look quite as clean. It’s a cool-looking floor, but I’m excited that the talk tomorrow will be about the semifinals as opposed to the court.”

Last month, the Big 12 announced both the men’s and women’s conference tournaments would take place on the LED court, designed by Germany-based ASB GlassFloor. It was part of a new innovation for the league and marked the first time LED court technology was used for an official sporting event in the United States.

While cool as a concept, games between some of the best teams in the country don’t need a gimmick. Play in the Big 12 semifinals tips Friday at 7:00 PM ET between No. 1 seed Arizona and No. 4 seed Iowa State.