Intramural basketball a huge hit

The intramural basketball league completed its second week of regular season play on Tuesday and it looks like another success for the revitalized intramurals program this year.

Fourteen teams signed up for this term’s basketball program, a tally so large that coordinators had to put a cap on the number of enrolled teams.

“That’s the largest it’s ever been. The only reason we had to stop there was because of a lack of gym time and space. Last term everything was really good and went well, so most of the teams came back, and we have some new teams,” said PSU Intramurals Head Coordinator and senior Sam Kavehrad.

In addition to a great turnout, the league also boasts an aspect that we do not see in some professional sports: competitive balance. Up to this point, the league appears wide-open, with several legitimate contenders in the running.

“It’s fairly spread out. I mean, there’s always going to be a team or two that’s pretty bad and a team or two that’s really good. I think it’s pretty spread out to where there’s not just one team that’s blowing other teams out. It’s pretty evenly mixed,” said Kavehrad.

In this balanced league, the early favorite appears to be Team Martinez. After their ringing 31-point victory over the Scuba Divers in Week 1, it is a wonder if anyone else has the offense to run with this squad.

League games are held on Tuesdays from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the Peter W. Stott Center main gym. Once the five-week regular season wraps up Feb. 27, the top six teams will advance to the playoffs and battle for the league championship the following week.

“It’s quite an improvement over the past, how it’s been loosely organized and kind of crumbled halfway through seasons and things like that. But that didn’t happen last term and it’s not going to happen this term,” said Kavehrad.

Alex “Double” O’Neil is a three-year participant in the basketball program. Having seen the program at its worst and now at its best, the intramural veteran can see the improvements.

“Well, it’s organized way better, people are actually showing up to games, which is a big difference from last year,” said O’Neil. “Also, they have a new website up. They had it last term but it’s more reliable this term and people are looking at it.”

The intramurals website that debuted in the fall had a significant upgrade over the break, and players are noticing. The program’s internet homepage provides players with accurate dates, locations, standings and results, an area the program was lacking in past years.

“It is so much easier to run the league,” said Kavehrad. “The website, I think everyone likes it. It just makes it that much more organized.”

O’Neil believes that the website helps now that the season has already started, but attributes the new faces to the well planned advertising at the beginning of the term.

“The advertisement was better, and they also started three weeks into the term giving people enough time to figure out when and where it was and get their teams organized,” said O’Neil.

With the amount of players in the league, Kavehrad has had to change the amount of games played. In the past, teams would play up to two games on the scheduled weekday and the records would have closer to 12-14 games played in the season.

“We only have five or six games in a season now, plus a week of playoffs, which most teams won’t make so that was kind of a bummer,” said O’Neil.

Junior Sam Wilson-Moses, who has also participated in the intramurals program over the past three years, sees the flush of new faces a positive step for the basketball program.

“It’s a lot more fun with more people,” said Wilson-Moses. “It would be more fun to have more games but I understand that if you are going to have more people then you’re not going to get as many games. I’d gladly take the trade off.”

For those who missed out on intramural basketball this term, there are still several opportunities to play each week. On Fridays and Sundays, drop-in games are held from 6-8 p.m. It is also held on Mondays from 5-7:50 p.m. Drop-in games are played in either the main gym or small basketball gym of the Stott Center each week.