Basketball is one of the many intramural sports that students can play during the academic year at TCU, and intramural basketball is offered during the spring semester.

Assistant Director of Campus Recreation Intramural Sports Sheldon Tate talked about the strength of the sport.

“Not only do we have a great quantity of teams, we also have great quality teams,” Tate said. “The quality of play and the experience folks are getting, they value it.”

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There are around 100 teams spread across four leagues: women’s, men’s recreational, men’s competitive and co-recreational, Tate said. Women and men can compete against one another in the co-recreational league.

Bryan Smith, a senior finance major with a real estate concentration, said he plays intramural basketball because he enjoys the competition. 

“I played in high school and I really miss the game,” Smith said. “I’ve always loved playing sports and it’s great to get to play with some of my best friends.”

TCU follows the same regulations as high schools for the most part. 

“We play federation rules, which means high school rules,” Tate said. “We make changes to reflect what the current rules are, but there are some things we hold on to like the 20 minute halves as opposed to 8 minute quarters.”

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Each team gets placed into a division within its respective league and is scheduled to play 5 games against different teams within its division. Tate mentioned the challenge of scheduling around students conflicts.

“The challenge is to try and fill the calendar out, but also making sure people get the adjustments they need,” he said.

Carson Castellano, a junior finance and accounting double major, said his favorite aspect of intramural basketball is the playoffs.

“I’ve played with the same guys over the past couple of years,” Castellano said. “We’re looking forward to playing in the playoffs again. Hopefully we will do well.”

The regular season began on Jan. 25 and concludes on March 2. The playoff schedule is TBA.