Are the U of I Basketball Courts the Best?

 For my last post, I'm going to be talking about the outdoor U of I courts. This may be confusing, but I will be talking about all of them as they are all quite similar. I will use the court in the Outdoor Center near the ARC as a specific example for most of my points.

The U of I outdoor courts pretty much have everything you want. Since they are run by the University, they are always well kept. For a while during lockdown, some hoops were taken down to stop outdoor gatherings, but by now they have all been put back up. The Outdoor Center courts, and some others have up to 6 hoops, or 3 full courts. Many of the hoops are unfortunately double rim, though they seem somewhat more lenient than other double rims such as at Blair Park. All courts have the markings for the paint, free throw, and 3-point line. If you want the most game-like court, these courts are what you want.

Parking is usually easy by the street next to these courts, though you may have to pay for a meter. The courts even have lights allowing you to play any time in the day. These courts immediately are in contention for the best courts In Urbana-Champaign. There are only two negatives I can think of are the popularity of the spots and the open space. Since these are such great courts, many people will want to play on them. There also aren't many buildings around these courts to either provide shade or block wind, both of which could be annoying.

Ranking:

The only court close to the U of I courts (and specifically the Outdoor Center Court) is the Southside Elementary School court. If you really value having a more quiet court with less people and more shade, then you'd prefer Southside, but for the majority of people, the U of I courts are the best

1. U of I (Outdoor Center)
2. South Side Elementary School
3. Clark Park
4. Blair Park
5. Mullikin Park
6. Countryside School