Pickup games in Wooden a tradition for UCLA staff
Despite the intensity and competitive nature of the faculty game, the camaraderie formed over the course of the hourlong pickup game is the game’s defining characteristic. Regardless of age or occupation, all players share a love of basketball.
(Austin Yu/Daily Bruin)
By Claire Fahy
May 30, 2014 1:58 a.m.
Every Tuesday and Thursday morning on the Wooden Center’s Collins Court, a diverse group of basketball players take the floor.
Their styles range from low-top Nikes to stiff high-top ankle braces, their hair from long dreadlocks to white, short mops. Some possess tenure, others sport tattoos.
This isn’t a casual pickup game – it’s a time-honored tradition. The faculty game – referred to by its players as the NBA, or “Noon Basketball Association” – contains all the components of a real competition: emphatic shouting, trash-talking, play calls, pick-and-rolls and the occasional expletive.
Since before 1970, UCLA faculty and staff from across all disciplines and departments and ranging in age from early 20s to late 70s have met every week on Collins Court for a round of pickup basketball.
“We’ve got guys who work on the dock, we’ve got guys who work in the hospital, we’ve got professors, we’ve got administrative assistants, we’ve got students,” said Professor Emeritus Val Rust, who works in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies.
In between no-look passes and blocked shots, the men substitute themselves in and out of the game, only allowing newcomers to join if there aren’t enough players.
Some players were members of high school and even college teams, while others found the sport as a hobby later on in life. Despite their different backgrounds, ages and professions, each person competes at the same level of intensity.
“We pay no attention to anything except if you can play ball,” Rust said.
Rust is the most veteran player on Collins Court, having played in the faculty game for its 45-year history. A high school basketball player, Rust continued to play the sport through college and even at the club level in Germany while working on research following his achieving a doctorate.
While Rust boasts vast experience in the sport, not all noon basketball players share his long history with basketball.
“My favorite thing is when you have five guys who have never played before, and all of a sudden it’s like a jazz band and they all start working together for a common goal and playing together and passing,” said Dr. Gary Green, who used to work as a team physician for UCLA Athletics.
While all participants of the faculty game are associated with UCLA in some capacity, most of them have never met before joining the Noon Basketball Association and hold basketball as a sole common interest.
“It’s one thing when you have a team, where people practice together, but we never practice together and you don’t know who you’re going to play with,” Green said.
The faculty game offers consistency in the inconsistent field of pickup basketball. Without fail, the noon basketball players take the court at 11 a.m. every Tuesday and Thursday, ready to play.
“It’s cool getting to know the guys and just having a group that is consistent,” said Stephen Hop, a recent UCLA graduate now working for the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship on campus. “We look out for each other. No one’s trying to get hurt, we just have fun out here.”
Fun is the main objective of the faculty game, despite its competitiveness. It’s not the competition that keeps the players coming back, but the camaraderie.
This connection sets them apart from the rest of the athletes at Wooden and stems from a shared love of the sport that has kept them coming back to Collins Court for more than 45 years.
“I play because I love it,” Green said. “I think if it ever gets to the point where I don’t hurry to get to the game, then I’ll probably stop playing.”
