Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall has been the home for Indiana University basketball since its opening in 1971. Before that, it was Gladstein Fieldhouse. Even earlier than that came the Seventh Street Fieldhouse, now named the WIC. It housed the Hoosiers from 1928 until 1960, but its history is recorded in the memories and hearts of Hoosier fans who experienced the atmosphere during that time, as well as the stories and traditions they passed down to their loved ones. It is the legacy of IU sports. It was the place where IU and the city of Bloomington, Indiana went on the map athletically, thanks to the 1940 and 1953 national championship victories under head coach Branch McCracken. Although the days of old have passed, the court from that time can now be in the homes of those who may have stepped foot on it all those years ago. This is thanks to the IU Surplus and its manager Todd Reid, who says the floor had a long history before it got to campus.

In 1960, once the court was pulled up to implement new flooring, the old floor was set outside of the building and all 140 or so pieces of the floor were claimed by a local farming family, the Toombs. They planned to use it inside their newly built barn. However, the barn was never finished and in the mid-1990s they contacted IU’s athletics department. IU athletics was already promoting plaques that were made from the old Assembly Hall floor, so the timing was good. The department hired the family to cut out pieces of the floor and sent them to an IU vendor to make similar plaques. In all, the vendor made between 3,000 to 5,ooo three-inch plaques with the historic floor. But there were still floorboards left unused.

IU Surplus ended up taking in the remaining 86 pieces. They partnered with a local company which had pieces of a floor that they thought was from Assembly Hall. But they turned out to be from the old fieldhouse. The company donated the floor to IU Athletics. From the 86 donated pieces, 45 were deemed useable.  Some of them were earmarked for IU’s bicentennial celebration, and the capital planning department got to work generating some big ideas on how to use them.

Whatever is left will be auctioned on a website, and while some of it has already been repurposed into tables, Reid wants it to be preserved as is so that anyone who buys it can use it as they like. However, it won’t come cheap. Pieces of the old fieldhouse are starting around $2,000.  Chris Williams, who runs IU Artifacts on Twitter and is well-known for his knowledge of IU basketball history says they are priceless because they will give people the opportunity to bring back part of a storied time in IU basketball history.