By GAVIN MENDOZA, Student Reporter
Students who participated in a recent survey said they hope the university replaces some of its tennis court space with a full-size basketball court.
Olivia Yandel, director the J.R. Holder Wellness Center, sent a survey to students Oct. 20 asking what they’d like to see done with the tennis courts. Some of the courts may be removed during an upcoming renovation project.
Students rarely use the tennis courts, and many say they would prefer to have more basketball courts or sand volleyball courts.
Yandel said she sent the survey to get feedback from students on the courts and to ask what they’d like to see the university do with the space.
“So, the whole purpose of it, really, is just to see … what students actually want,” Yandel said.
Officials will use the survey results to write grants for the renovation project. Most students who responded to the survey said they want more space to play basketball.
“The main thing was basketball – adding more full-length basketball courts because obviously we only have two ‘half’ ones right now,” Yandel said. “So, we’re looking at turning one of the tennis courts over on the west end into a full-length basketball court.”
The survey was important because it gives students a way to voice their opinions, Yandel said. The survey had about 160 responses in the first two days, which Yandel said she was surprised by.
Ken Yamakoshi, a freshman business administration major from Coppell, Texas, said he thinks the university should keep some of the courts and build a basketball court.
“Having that many courts while not many people use them is a waste of space,” Yamakoshi said. “By downsizing the tennis courts, it would make room to build a full court for basketball instead of a half court.”
Yamakoshi said that, when people use the inside courts, it makes it harder for the basketball players to get extra shots up. By building a full-length court outside, it will make more people want to play outside and give the players more time to get extra work in.