Here at Praters, the 'Madness' begins months before the tournament selection show.
Several Men's and Women's Conference tournament floors, multiple NCAA tournament floors, a fan zone floor, plus the Men's and Women's Championship floors all must come together and be ready for play weeks before their respective tip-offs. It takes quite a bit of planning and a lot of hard work to pull that off.
And we know a lot of people are depending on us; players, coaches, and fans just to name a few.
But it's not just us they are counting on. We are privileged to be partnered with Connor Sports, the official floor of the Men's and Women's NCAA® Final Four®.
The Connor team spends countless, sleepless nights with us as we decend deeper and deeper into the 'Madness'. The floors are built by Connor Sports in Amasa, Michigan and then shipped to Praters for finishing.
Without a doubt, two floors that get a touch of extra special TLC this time of year are the Men's and Women's Championship floors. The NCAA floor designers pull out all the stops on these, and the designs can often present real challenges for our painters. The 2013 floors are no exception and do not disappoint.
'These floors are true works of art', says John Prater, 'Some wonderfully talented and dedicated people are behind translating those designs onto each court long before the first basket is ever made."
Prater went on to say, "Our ability, year in and year out, to finish multiple, intricately-designed floors simultaneously within a very short period of time just continues to amaze me. I am in awe of the job done by our team and our partners at Connor. It truly is a labor of love...some might call it 'Madness''.