UA Little Rock basketball teams found a new location to play

Little Rock, Arkansas – After a home team’s court was destroyed by burst pipes last week, they will not have a home court on Thursday.

Due to substantial damage caused by winter weather at the Jack Stephens Center, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Trojans will have to find a new location for their game on Thursday.

The doubleheader against Tennessee-Martin will be played at Simmons Bank Arena between the men’s and women’s teams.

This choice, according to athletic director George Lee, was made in response to a pipe burst that occurred on Friday inside one of Jack Stephens’ mechanical closets. For up to 10 hours, water came pouring out of the closet onto Jack Foley Court.

Lee said he went to examine the damage on Friday and was astonished by how severe it was.

“The middle of the court – if you can imagine – there’s just peaks and valleys,” he said, recalling the aftermath from Friday.

When Lee initially noticed the damage, there was, according to Lee, around an inch or two of water on top of the court. The court was entirely submerged in water.

Lee called some acquaintances at Simmons Bank Arena to inquire about playing there after realizing that the teams would not be permitted to play on their home courts for this matchup versus Tennessee-Martin.

“If it wouldn’t have been for that, we probably wouldn’t have been able to play the games here in central Arkansas tonight,” he said.

The damage will cost at least a few hundred thousand dollars, so Lee expressed his gratitude for insurance and how it will assist with these repairs.

“The last court that we’ve put in that I had a lot to do with was on another part of our campus was $225,000 and that was in 1999,” he said.

In terms of what will happen after the game on Thursday night, Lee stated that the court should be completely torn down by Friday and that a company will arrive on Monday to install a temporary court so that the teams may play there for the duration of the season. There will be a new permanent court installed between this season and the following.