The Big 12 enters a new era with ASB GlassFloor technology

Photo Courtesy of ASB GlassFloor

Imagine witnessing a basketball court illuminated with dynamic graphics and real-time stats beneath the Big 12 athletes’ feet as they fight to claim a championship title.

That is the fan experience Chris Thornton, chief executive officer of ASB GlassFloor America, offers to those in-arena and viewers at home watching the 2026 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championship Tournaments in Kansas City, Missouri.

The Big 12 Conference announced the use of the ASB GlassFloor’s full LED video sports floor to debut at the March tournaments in a Feb. 11 press release, marking the first time its technology will be utilized for official competition in the United States.

In the press release, Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said the league’s goal is simple: to keep raising the bar.

“Elevating our league’s profile and adding real value to our programs requires a willingness to push boundaries,” Yormark said in the press release. “This technology represents the future and bringing it to our basketball tournaments reinforces our commitment to innovation, positioning the Big 12 as a different league and national leader in elevating the game.”

Thornton referred to the ASB GlassFloor as an engineered sports system and described how the integrated LED system mimics the mechanics of modern hardwood.

“Beneath the glass surface is an advanced substructure with elastic layers that replicate the shock absorption, energy return, and ball response of premium hardwood,” Thornton said. “The top glass layer creates grip comparable to traditional maple courts, so athletes immediately recognize the feel, but with added joint protection and consistency.”

Thornton said the league isn’t just adopting a new court, but redefining championship presentation.

“The 2026 Big 12 Basketball Tournament is the perfect launch platform because it represents elite competition, national broadcast exposure, and a conference willing to lead,” Thornton said. “With multiple days of high-stakes men’s and women’s games, it’s the ultimate proving ground for innovation at scale.”

UCF men’s basketball had the opportunity to experience the playability of the video sports floor at the ASB Athletes Lab 2.0 training facility in Orlando in Sept. 2025.

For an athlete who began their collegiate basketball career about four decades ago, head coach Johnny Dawkins said he’s had to adapt to the profession’s technological development.

“It’s an ingenious idea to have the court be able to do a lot of different things and I thought our guys enjoyed it,” Dawkins said during the Feb. 11 media availability. “It performed for what I could see and for what our players gave me feedback on that it performed like a court they’re familiar with, like a wood floor.”

Dawkins said the Knights were skeptical about the LED glasfloor at first, though feedback from the players afterward told a different story.

Sixth-year forward Devan Cambridge recalled feeling the difference in dribbling, but found what he referred to as “endless” possibilities the court offered as impressive, including the different designs and assistance with drills.

“When I first got on it, it was kind of different,” Cambridge said during the Feb. 11 media availability. “I didn’t like it, per se, but when we started practicing, it felt kind of the same. It feels weird to bounce the ball, but overall I liked it.”

Redshirt junior center Jeremy Foumena chimed in with a similar feeling about the technology-driven court as his fellow 6-foot-6 forward.

“With my experience, I think it was pretty cool to play on the [ASB GlassFloor] court,” Foumena said during the Feb. 11 media availability. “As you keep going back and forth, it kind of feels the same…and the lights are not distracting at all.”

After falling to West Virginia 77-62 on Friday, the Knights head to the Big 12 Championship, clinching the No. 8 seed and a first-round bye, according to the 2026 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament Bracket.

UCF is set to face the Game 2 winner between the No. 9 seed Cincinnati Bearcats (17-14, 9-9 Big 12) and the No. 16 seed Utah Utes (10-21, 2-16 Big 12) in the second round at 2 p.m. CT/ 3 p.m. ET on Wednesday at the T-Mobile Arena, the bracket states.

With the Big 12 partnership, Thornton expressed his optimism for what the future can hold for ASB GlassFloor.

“We see ASB GlassFloor becoming standard,” Thornton said. “The future isn’t just about replacing wood — it’s about redefining what a court can do.”