KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark wanted the league’s postseason tournament to reflect his idealized version of the league — young, hip, upscale and current — and that spilled like a bucket of paint onto the floor this week.
Goodbye, clean and traditional hardwood. Welcome, a court emblazoned with hundreds of XII logos that stretch from baseline to baseline and result in a polarizing look that is Louis Vuitton-like to some fans and an abhorrent eyesore to others.
“That court isn’t about me. It’s about our student-athletes,” Yormark said Tuesday, shortly before Cincinnati and Oklahoma State stepped onto it for the first game in the newly expanded 16-team Big 12 tournament.
“When I first got here,” Yormark continued, “it was all about modernizing and contemporizing our brand, and connecting to the culture of current and future student-athletes, and that’s what we’re doing.”
The gray-hued floor actually debuted during last week’s women’s Big 12 tournament, featuring black baselines and sidelines…
