Competition at campus basketball courts draws local residents, students
While fans cheered on the USC basketball team Tuesday night at the Galen Center, across the street, players stole the spotlight on a different set of courts.
The courts there are a little more dingy, with tattered nets and a thin layer of sand covering the cement. There is no scoreboard and no announcer, and players compete under the yellow wash of lights mounted on the adjoining parking garage.
Hoops · Local residents frequently play basketball at the courts across from the Galen Center. The courts are used almost every night, but often remain vacant during the day. - Carlo Acenas | Daily Trojan
But even though these courts aren’t nearly as ornate or well-kept as the Galen Center — or even the courts in the Lyon Center, for that matter — the games they host might be more important for USC’s image than those in either of the other venues.
The two basketball courts located on the edge of campus — nestled between Gate 3, Figueroa Street and Parking Structure X — have become a mecca of sorts for basketball enthusiasts over the years. Though the courts are close to the freshmen dorms and sometimes attract USC students, a different crowd comes out to play at night: people who live in the neighborhood.
“You get a good workout up here,” said 19-year-old Wayne McIntyre, who lives near campus. “I come here because I [see] the homies and I like playing basketball.”
McIntyre and his friends play basketball on the courts regularly — he said he comes to campus “every other day.” There’s always someone on the courts in the evenings, he said, especially on the weekends.
“There’s always competition,” he said.
But competition marks every basketball court. What sets these courts apart, players said, is that here — unlike elsewhere in South Los Angeles — the competition doesn’t get out of hand.
“Elsewhere people are getting mad regularly,” said Clifford Warrn, a 20-year-old who plays on the USC courts daily. “Not so much here. There’s really no arguing — nobody’s causing trouble.”
“You can’t say the same thing about other courts,” McIntyre said.
There’s something else uncommon about the outdoor courts: Although they are on campus and near many freshmen dorms, they are usually vacant during the day. They don’t come alive until 6 or 7 p.m., when the lights on the parking garage flicker on and players trickle in from different directions — mostly from outside of USC’s gates. Many students say they go elsewhere on campus to play basketball and rarely think about these courts.
Anand Abraham, a sophomore majoring in biological sciences, said he has never played basketball on the outdoor courts. He usually plays at Cardinal Gardens or at the Lyon Center, even though he said the latter is “always crowded.”
“They’re just closer to me,” Abraham said.
Though Daryl Trotter, a junior majoring in architecture, has played basketball on the courts with his friends from the surrounding neighborhood for the past three and a half years, he said he doesn’t see too many other students around. Still, Trotter said, it would not be a problem if students were to visit the courts more often.
“People over here wouldn’t even care,” Trotter said. “I think it’d actually be cool.”
Bruce Morrissette, a sophomore majoring in business administration, said he used the courts last year and most of the other players were not USC students. Although some students might have negative misconceptions about the neighborhood surrounding USC and the people who live near the university, Morrissette said he had no problems playing basketball with players who weren’t students.
“I always thought it was fine,” he said. “I really didn’t see any problems. People got a little into it sometimes, but that’s just competition.”
For Trotter, the courts are the place where his friends in the neighborhood can feel like they’re part of the USC community.
“A lot of people also come here because it’s up at ’SC. People who are fans of ’SC sports like to come here and ball and play sports at the ’SC courts,” he said. “It makes them feel at home.”
Still, some of the regulars said it’s not about the relationship between USC and the neighborhood, and it doesn’t matter who shows up to the courts.
“If they can play, they can play,” Warrn said. “It doesn’t matter.”
I graduated from SC when the courts were where the McCarthy Quad now is. I had a great time playing there against neighborhood kids, SC football players, SC women’s basketball players and totally uncoordinated SC freshman. It was a great mixture, then as now mostly kids “from the hood”, but it was a great learning experience for me as well.
To “parenr” and “USCDad”: I have a simple solution: Pepperdine exists. Great location, good education, none of the big city problems. Send your kids there. Please don’t try to turn us into Pepperdine.
You will be the very same niave parent that willl throw a fit when if anyjting every happened to you child. You are the one who actually sounds quite ignorant of the facts.
Dear “parent”:
Your post reeks of fear and ignorance, not to mention racism. Not every kid who lives near USC is a criminal. My daughter is a junior and lived in Pardee as a freshman. She never had a problem with local residents using the courts in the evening, nor did I ever have any cause for concern. Why do some people feel the need to stir up trouble for no good reason? Furthermore, if you can’t spell you should have someone proofread your posts before you submit them. Your poor spelling is evidence of your own lack of education.
This is a recipe for diaster! A litany of situations can and will arise from having non students competing in heated scenarios on USC basketball courts! We as parents pay 50k plus a year for our kids to be secure and safe. USC courts should be for USC kids end of subject. All of the bleeding heart liberals that are so predisposed to constantly reaching out to be inclusive of the community around USC will be the same individuals that will roll their eyes up in their head and throw their arms up in the air upon some unfotunate incident at the hands of an outsider invading our school property and perpetuating a violent crime agaisnt a student!.
If history hasnt taught us anything USC needs to purchuse all of the housing around campus and errect school boundires. Similar to what Brown & Columbia and Brown have done encompassing thier campuses for safty reasons! Then anyone who is not supposed to on campus will be querried and asked to leave. Until such action is taken our kids will continue to be shot, stabbed, rapped and beaten up. But we have our kids paying top price for the privildge of being at USC and being forced on an ongoing daily basis to live amoungst some of the worst element that Los Angles has to offer. Great now lets encourage heated competition with kids that are underprivildged have a chip on their shoulders and do not have the same resouces, educationally or monitarilaly. Our goal is to educate our kids that have been fortunate enough to have been chosen one of 2400 kids out of the 50,000 that have appiled to attend this prestiegious school not to baby sit and be and out reach program for the less fortunate these kids are forced to cohabitate with while securing such a desirable education! .
Sounds like a pot waiting to boil over to me! But what do i know?