At first glance SMU and Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas might not have much in common. But a closer look at, of all things, Jesuit’s basketball court provides the unlikely link.

When the athletic department decided this spring to redo the look of the court in Moody Coliseum a variety of designs were proposed. Most were modern highly-stylized proposals that would have been out of place in the aging gym. Instead, the department decided to have a classic look for the court – which leads to the Jesuit gymnasium.

Those working on the project decided that the current color of the Moody floor was too washed-out. But picking out a new stain that would go with the classic look being worked on was turning out to be a chore – until associate athletic director for Marketing and Public Relations Richard Sweet walked into the Jesuit gym with his son for a tournament.

One look at the floor and Sweet knew he had found the look SMU wanted.

Within a week, Sweet and other members of the athletic department went back to Jesuit with a box of wood chips. They went through chip after chip, trying to match the floor to a color in the chip catalogue. And they did it.

The winning choice? A finish called Colonial Maple.

“We want the floor to have a classic type feel,” Sweet said.

The only question left is whether the new look will be on the current floor or a new one purchased by the department. A mid-July cutoff date has been given to find new hardwood for SMU athletics. Sweet said they are trying to buy a gently-used floor from a recent Final Four site to replace the current floor. If that does not happen, the department will simply redo the existing floor. The staining and painting of the existing floor would cost approximately $30,000.

No matter which floor is used, the design on it has been finalized.

It is just part of the change occurring with the new floor in Moody Coliseum for the 2007-08 season.

The winning redesign came from Erik Herskind, a graduate of SMU in 1987. Herskind was a former track and cross-country athlete during his time on the Hilltop. His company, Greenlight, helped research and design the court.

Herskind began by studying the courts of college basketball’s powerhouses: Duke, Indiana, Kentucky and UCLA to name a few. He also looked into SMU’s history through old yearbooks, magazines and photos provided by the athletic department.

The goal? Simplicity merged with a classic college basketball look.

The result? A floor that looks like it came from the decade of poodle skirts and jukeboxes, yet is “retro cool” for today’s fans.