BOWLING GREEN — Those who took a look at the basketball the Bowling Green State University men’s basketball team used in its exhibition game Thursday night did a double-take.
Were they oversized orange golf balls? Or were they Halloween pumpkins that already were starting to decay?
The answer is neither: They were Nike “Hyper Elite” basketballs with dimples that are said to help plays grip the ball better.
“Nike put in a waiver for us to use that ball,” BG coach Michael Huger explained, adding that roughly 200 “Nike” schools could use that ball if they chose to. He also said that the balls will be re-evaluated at the end of the season.
#BGSU men's hoops: Are these basketballs or golf balls? Dimpled ball #Falcons will use tonight v. Capital. pic.twitter.com/9bSIbXuHZE
— John Wagner (@jwagnerblade) November 2, 2017
One Falcons player said the ball was a little easier to grip when it was wet because of the dimples, but Huger said the primary advantage came from the Falcons using them every day.
“If we are the ones practicing with them, it’s an advantage to use them [in games],” Huger said. “I don’t think there’s an advantage – it’s just a basketball. …
“If we go to, say, Kent State, and they play with Under Armour balls, we’re not used to Under Armour balls. So the first dribble feels different, but then it’s just basketball.”
Contact John Wagner at jwagner@theblade.com, 419-724-6481, or on Twitter @jwagnerblade.
First Published November 3, 2017, 2:00 p.m.
