March Madness is underway, and already, something is catching the eyes of fans: a new, shinier basketball.
During the First Four games of the 2022 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball tournament, viewers noticed brighter basketballs with gold trim featuring the Final Four branding.
NCAA Tournament basketballs are glowing this year. đź’Ą pic.twitter.com/6o1AaXTtAe
— Brian Anderson (@BAndersonPxP) March 16, 2022
The reaction has not exactly been entirely positive, as some have compared the new-look basketballs to those most often dribbled in driveways and collected off the shelves at a local Walmart.
Anyone else watching the @iubb win and wondering what the deal was with the balls they used ? They looked like the $5.99 specials from Walmart and seemed to bounce and be hard to control like them too ! Anyone know the deal ?
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) March 16, 2022
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With all the attention on the bright orange basketball, Sporting News is diving into how these new basketballs appeared on the courts for March Madness.
Why the NCAA is using new basketballs
It might have gone under the radar before the season, but Wilson announced that these new basketballs were coming.
According to a release from the National Sports Goods Association, the NCAA and Wilson unveiled the new Evo NXT that included the NCAA’s logo with gold foil embellishments. The balls have a micro-touch cover that adds extra grip, while the core is softer and helps with control, per the release.
“Evolution and innovation are what our long-standing partnership with the NCAA is all about. We’re excited to introduce the Evo NXT to the next generation of student-athletes,” Wilson team sports general manager Kevin Murphy said in the release. “The Evo NXT is one of our highest caliber basketballs and we’re excited to bring it to the championship level of collegiate men’s and women’s basketball.”
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Wilson director of sales Dave White explained in a pair of tweets that the balls are the ones used by the WNBA last season and that they are made using the best technology available from the Evolution basketball.
I can guarantee you these aren’t $5.99 basketballs. We took the best technologies from the previous NCAA game balls, the best technologies from the Evolution basketball (the number one game ball in the world) and created the new ball that you see being used this year.
— Dave White (@DaveWhite1223) March 16, 2022
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These new basketballs might have caught fans by surprise, but they’ve been in circulation during the 2021-22 season. The release noted that the shinier basketballs were approved to be played for the entirety of the regular season. However, that doesn’t mean every team opted to use them.
NCAA teams are permitted to choose their own basketball when they are the home team, provided that it is spherical (obviously), PMS orange 151, red-orange 173 or brown 1535, made of leather or a composite material, and a number of other stipulations, according to the NCAA rulebook.
But beyond that, the NCAA does not specify that the ball be any specific brand, color or model. Some teams will use Adidas balls, others will use Nike, some will stick with Wilson and some will opt for even smaller brands in an attempt to throw off their opponents, per a 2019 ESPN article.
Now that March Madness is beginning, all teams are neutral, which means they all have to use the same basketball. The NSGA release noted that the shiny new Wilson basketball is the official game ball for both the men’s and women’s tournaments and the NIT.
And if you’re looking for one to hoop with in your driveway, good luck. They’re not $5.99, like Mark Cuban suggested, and as of the start of tournament play, they’re not in stock. The only racks you’ll find these on anytime soon will be those for warmups ahead of each March Madness game.