By bringing in a slew of 5-star prospects with no connection to Utah or the LDS church, BYU basketball has shown how quickly a school can change its standing in the modern era of college sports.
Regarding the carpeted basketball phenomenon, the answer is it depends on when your local meetinghouse was built. As a quick primer: a meetinghouse often hosts multiple LDS wards if there's a decent chunk of followers in an area, and they're intended to serve multiple functions. The basketball court also serves as the "cultural hall" intended to host wedding receptions (super helpful when you need to book a venue in a hurry after only dating for 7 weeks), devotionals, Scout meetings, and any other large or community gatherings. There are many a meme about basketball hoops in wedding receptions, for example.
Anyways, starting in the 60s, the Church started standardizing these buildings and instituted carpeting in the cultural halls shortly thereafter. Carpet church basketball was born! But then in the 90s, the Church moved away from carpeting when they realized hardwood is cheaper to maintain than recarpeting. So, if your meetinghouse is an older structure, it may never have had carpeting. If you're in a newer or renovated building, the carpeting got ripped out. But for LDS children of the 80s and 90s, carpet basketball was absolutely a thing.
This piece from old/good Deadspin does a terrific job explaining the history and culture of it.
Interesting article. Thanks for sharing. To make your next article even better please state the actual name of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the first time and then refer to it's members as Latter-day Saints or LDS or perhaps members of The Church.
Just to clarify: Blacks could join the church before 1978. They could not hold the Priesthood before 1978. And this was not only true in the LDS religion, as racial divides were common in the mid 20th century throughout America, across religions, schools, politics, etc.
Well written article providing insights on BYU. Doug Stewart the BYU Basketball new Chief of Staff has played a big role in the recent recruiting success…along with the $. 😊
Regarding the carpeted basketball phenomenon, the answer is it depends on when your local meetinghouse was built. As a quick primer: a meetinghouse often hosts multiple LDS wards if there's a decent chunk of followers in an area, and they're intended to serve multiple functions. The basketball court also serves as the "cultural hall" intended to host wedding receptions (super helpful when you need to book a venue in a hurry after only dating for 7 weeks), devotionals, Scout meetings, and any other large or community gatherings. There are many a meme about basketball hoops in wedding receptions, for example.
Anyways, starting in the 60s, the Church started standardizing these buildings and instituted carpeting in the cultural halls shortly thereafter. Carpet church basketball was born! But then in the 90s, the Church moved away from carpeting when they realized hardwood is cheaper to maintain than recarpeting. So, if your meetinghouse is an older structure, it may never have had carpeting. If you're in a newer or renovated building, the carpeting got ripped out. But for LDS children of the 80s and 90s, carpet basketball was absolutely a thing.
This piece from old/good Deadspin does a terrific job explaining the history and culture of it.
https://deadspin.com/satan-scourges-us-with-it-a-brief-history-of-carpeted-1793111588/
I swear to God Rodger, it often feels like you write things just for me and my weird obsessions in sports. Wonderful article. Thank you.
Interesting article. Thanks for sharing. To make your next article even better please state the actual name of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the first time and then refer to it's members as Latter-day Saints or LDS or perhaps members of The Church.
Just to clarify: Blacks could join the church before 1978. They could not hold the Priesthood before 1978. And this was not only true in the LDS religion, as racial divides were common in the mid 20th century throughout America, across religions, schools, politics, etc.
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I worked with his brother. Kevin came into our high school once, and the three of us had a good visit.
Well written article providing insights on BYU. Doug Stewart the BYU Basketball new Chief of Staff has played a big role in the recent recruiting success…along with the $. 😊