ThomasCostello
Guest
Covering the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament from the upper deck
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
My Big Ten women’s basketball tournament journey was unforgettable, so I cut it short.
I have been in two press conferences following an Ohio State women’s basketball game against UCLA. The first came in December of 2023, when the Bruins traveled to Columbus, Ohio to get a test run in for the program’s eventual move out of the Pac-12 and into the Big Ten.
Ohio State lost, and I can’t remember anything that was said in the press conference from either team a year and nearly four months later, except the last thing Bruins head coach Cori Close said directly to the group of reporters in attendance.
Close thanked media members for telling the stories of women’s college basketball players. That’s a bit of paraphrasing on my part, so I’ll follow it up with coach’s quote from Saturday night, after the Bruins defeated the Buckeyes in the Big Ten Tournament semifinal.
“As usual, thank you guys for being here and helping tell the stories of these great women,” said Close before she stepped off the stage in Indianapolis’ Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The first time Close thanked a group I was part of, it genuinely made me go “wow.” I felt a sense of pride in the work I was doing for almost three years at that point.
The second time I heard it, I remembered the that initial positive feeling, but that pride shifted to shame. Not on anything I wrote at the tournament or something Close said before it. No, it was shame for the Big Ten because they do not value it the same as the eventual coach of the tournament champions.
Indianapolis is no stranger to hosting the Big Ten women’s basketball tournament. The 2025 edition was the 26th time the conference descended on the home of the NCAA, Indianapolis 500 and many other teams. However, this is the first time I was part of a media group the conference was fine with hiding away.
A benefit of being in-person at these events is because you see and hear things that don’t come up on the broadcast. You also form relationships with people in the program, fans and fellow media members.
That is why I make an effort to go to as many games live as possible. There are a few things that get in the way of that for me. Namely, having a spouse, three kids with different activities and a full-time job. Oh and paying my own way for that travel.
In past years I have driven to Minneapolis for the conference tournament, every game played in Ann Arbor over the last four seasons, Bloomington twice and Maryland last week, to name a few.
Each time I tell my wife “I need to go” to a game, she rebuts the “need” part, which I always correct to “I want to go.” I do not want to go for free things like food or, in some places, unlimited coffee. I do not go for the swag bags you see WNBA writers often sharing on social media, because they do not exist at this level, from what I have experienced.
No, I go because I want to tell the stories of these athletes who play basketball. The lone guiding principle I have had in my writing is not to write what will get the most views or get people to like me. I write articles that I would want to read, hoping that someone else in the world does too.
The best way to do that is to be in the action. At Michigan games, I love standing in the smallest hallway you can imagine interviewing players. In Minneapolis at the 2023 conference tournament, I watched as Rikki Harris completely smashed a laptop of the student next to me as she jumped out of bounds to save a ball. In the NCAA tournament, I have talked to players before practice started or introduced myself to a coach. As a kid I dreamed of doing anything with sports and these games are a fulfillment of it.
When the conference tournament comes around, that is when I am most excited to travel. I missed out on last year’s games in Minneapolis because a 15-hour one-way drive nearly did me in the year before, so in 2025 I was set to head to Indianapolis and cover not only Ohio State but the entire conference with the national women’s basketball coverage on SB Nation.
No matter what happened to the Scarlet and Gray, I drove in to begin my coverage on Friday. I was more than excited to sit in the arena and watch as much basketball as humanly possible. Then I got to the arena.
This year the Big Ten decided to forego their usual media setup and sent us up to the terrace level, which is a nice way of saying the top of the arena.
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The media section of the 2025 Big Ten women’s basketball tournament
There are plenty of advantages to being that high up. First, you get to see plays develop better than on the ground level. Second, you get ample exercise making your way up to the section. Third, there are less people up there so the hallways are not as crowded.
I joked about the distance away online and looked down at the sidelines to see if maybe there was someone I knew and I was just in the wrong place. I went over the media instructions again to see what I missed. There was nothing missed, but I was still watching basketball, which is a great perk of writing about basketball.
Before the fourth game of the night, the game where I was about to pull double duty for Land-Grant Holy Land and SB Nation, I decided to go down to the court level to take some photos and video of warm-ups and maybe talk to some of the Big Ten media folks who I have gotten to know over the years and through social media.
I waited for an elevator, made my way down four floors and started walking towards the entrance when security frantically called me back. I showed them my media credential, since sometimes a guy like me walking around with a big beard at a women’s basketball game is sometimes a cause for concern but no it was not a mistake. Media was not allowed anywhere near the court.
That brought out words I will not repeat in this article. Not directed at the fine security officers who were doing what they were instructed, but at the overwhelming feeling of disrespect from the Big Ten.
It was not the first time that week I felt it. Five days prior, a conference system issue did not count my first ever postseason awards ballot, with no empathy or remorse from the league office.
If you are still with me at this point, this sounds like a bunch of whining, so I will adapt a famous Adam Sandler line from the Wedding Singer “Well I have the keyboard and the platform so you will read every *censored* word I have to say (just kidding, please come back).
Having access at the ground level brings firsthand accounts of the games. Adding more than what is said at a press conference. The stories that are not heard during a broadcast.
Now, I know there are arguments supporting me being a privileged complaining writer. I wrote about soccer for six years, and I still do, and at those games you sit pretty far away. Hockey writers basically write in the attic of arenas.
Basketball is not like those sports.
Basketball is played on a smaller field of play. It’s an intimate and minimalist game. A jersey a ball and a court. That is why the ACC, SEC and Big 12 all had their media members sitting court side. Conferences that have won national championships in the last 25 years.
Especially college basketball, which the Big Ten Tournament does not resemble. It feels more like a professional league all-star game. A way to honor the sacrifices of sponsors over celebrating the work of college athletes.
After Ohio State lost on Saturday night, I still had one more day of coverage for SB Nation, but I decided to do it from my home. Outside of not asking questions in the post game press conference and getting to know other media members better, it was an overall better experience, with a better view. I made my own coffee.
Continue reading...
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
My Big Ten women’s basketball tournament journey was unforgettable, so I cut it short.
I have been in two press conferences following an Ohio State women’s basketball game against UCLA. The first came in December of 2023, when the Bruins traveled to Columbus, Ohio to get a test run in for the program’s eventual move out of the Pac-12 and into the Big Ten.
Ohio State lost, and I can’t remember anything that was said in the press conference from either team a year and nearly four months later, except the last thing Bruins head coach Cori Close said directly to the group of reporters in attendance.
Close thanked media members for telling the stories of women’s college basketball players. That’s a bit of paraphrasing on my part, so I’ll follow it up with coach’s quote from Saturday night, after the Bruins defeated the Buckeyes in the Big Ten Tournament semifinal.
“As usual, thank you guys for being here and helping tell the stories of these great women,” said Close before she stepped off the stage in Indianapolis’ Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The first time Close thanked a group I was part of, it genuinely made me go “wow.” I felt a sense of pride in the work I was doing for almost three years at that point.
The second time I heard it, I remembered the that initial positive feeling, but that pride shifted to shame. Not on anything I wrote at the tournament or something Close said before it. No, it was shame for the Big Ten because they do not value it the same as the eventual coach of the tournament champions.
Indianapolis is no stranger to hosting the Big Ten women’s basketball tournament. The 2025 edition was the 26th time the conference descended on the home of the NCAA, Indianapolis 500 and many other teams. However, this is the first time I was part of a media group the conference was fine with hiding away.
A benefit of being in-person at these events is because you see and hear things that don’t come up on the broadcast. You also form relationships with people in the program, fans and fellow media members.
That is why I make an effort to go to as many games live as possible. There are a few things that get in the way of that for me. Namely, having a spouse, three kids with different activities and a full-time job. Oh and paying my own way for that travel.
In past years I have driven to Minneapolis for the conference tournament, every game played in Ann Arbor over the last four seasons, Bloomington twice and Maryland last week, to name a few.
Each time I tell my wife “I need to go” to a game, she rebuts the “need” part, which I always correct to “I want to go.” I do not want to go for free things like food or, in some places, unlimited coffee. I do not go for the swag bags you see WNBA writers often sharing on social media, because they do not exist at this level, from what I have experienced.
No, I go because I want to tell the stories of these athletes who play basketball. The lone guiding principle I have had in my writing is not to write what will get the most views or get people to like me. I write articles that I would want to read, hoping that someone else in the world does too.
The best way to do that is to be in the action. At Michigan games, I love standing in the smallest hallway you can imagine interviewing players. In Minneapolis at the 2023 conference tournament, I watched as Rikki Harris completely smashed a laptop of the student next to me as she jumped out of bounds to save a ball. In the NCAA tournament, I have talked to players before practice started or introduced myself to a coach. As a kid I dreamed of doing anything with sports and these games are a fulfillment of it.
When the conference tournament comes around, that is when I am most excited to travel. I missed out on last year’s games in Minneapolis because a 15-hour one-way drive nearly did me in the year before, so in 2025 I was set to head to Indianapolis and cover not only Ohio State but the entire conference with the national women’s basketball coverage on SB Nation.
No matter what happened to the Scarlet and Gray, I drove in to begin my coverage on Friday. I was more than excited to sit in the arena and watch as much basketball as humanly possible. Then I got to the arena.
This year the Big Ten decided to forego their usual media setup and sent us up to the terrace level, which is a nice way of saying the top of the arena.
The media section of the 2025 Big Ten women’s basketball tournament
There are plenty of advantages to being that high up. First, you get to see plays develop better than on the ground level. Second, you get ample exercise making your way up to the section. Third, there are less people up there so the hallways are not as crowded.
I joked about the distance away online and looked down at the sidelines to see if maybe there was someone I knew and I was just in the wrong place. I went over the media instructions again to see what I missed. There was nothing missed, but I was still watching basketball, which is a great perk of writing about basketball.
Before the fourth game of the night, the game where I was about to pull double duty for Land-Grant Holy Land and SB Nation, I decided to go down to the court level to take some photos and video of warm-ups and maybe talk to some of the Big Ten media folks who I have gotten to know over the years and through social media.
I waited for an elevator, made my way down four floors and started walking towards the entrance when security frantically called me back. I showed them my media credential, since sometimes a guy like me walking around with a big beard at a women’s basketball game is sometimes a cause for concern but no it was not a mistake. Media was not allowed anywhere near the court.
That brought out words I will not repeat in this article. Not directed at the fine security officers who were doing what they were instructed, but at the overwhelming feeling of disrespect from the Big Ten.
It was not the first time that week I felt it. Five days prior, a conference system issue did not count my first ever postseason awards ballot, with no empathy or remorse from the league office.
If you are still with me at this point, this sounds like a bunch of whining, so I will adapt a famous Adam Sandler line from the Wedding Singer “Well I have the keyboard and the platform so you will read every *censored* word I have to say (just kidding, please come back).
Having access at the ground level brings firsthand accounts of the games. Adding more than what is said at a press conference. The stories that are not heard during a broadcast.
Now, I know there are arguments supporting me being a privileged complaining writer. I wrote about soccer for six years, and I still do, and at those games you sit pretty far away. Hockey writers basically write in the attic of arenas.
Basketball is not like those sports.
Basketball is played on a smaller field of play. It’s an intimate and minimalist game. A jersey a ball and a court. That is why the ACC, SEC and Big 12 all had their media members sitting court side. Conferences that have won national championships in the last 25 years.
Especially college basketball, which the Big Ten Tournament does not resemble. It feels more like a professional league all-star game. A way to honor the sacrifices of sponsors over celebrating the work of college athletes.
After Ohio State lost on Saturday night, I still had one more day of coverage for SB Nation, but I decided to do it from my home. Outside of not asking questions in the post game press conference and getting to know other media members better, it was an overall better experience, with a better view. I made my own coffee.
Continue reading...