Naperville North’s contest gym floor received a new look this summer with intentions to promote the Huskie identity as a whole.

The new look features the traditional Huskie head–usually found on things like spirit wear, accessories, and books–at center court. Naperville North’s “NN” secondary logo can be found along the sideline, and the word “HUSKIES” in orange and blue letters faces the home team bleachers. As a finishing touch, the Dupage Valley Conference emblem has been cleaned up at the free-throw line, sporting a simple “DVC” acronym instead.

These designs are a departure from the one-of-a-kind logos that were displayed solely in the contest gym.

NNHS Athletic Director Bob Quinn said that the familiar, traditional logos were installed to promote the brand of the Huskies, connecting an easily recognizable identity of the school to the contest gym.

“When a high school like Naperville North brands itself, you want simplicity, and less is more in most cases,” Quinn said. “We did simplify it a bit, it’s a little bit cleaner, and it just looks a little bit more representative of what we’re about.”

The project was nothing short of pricey. According to Quinn, over $25,000 was spent from a District 203 “building operations” fund to complete the renovations.

In order to add and remove the designs from the floor, the old paint had to be sanded down to bare wood. Then, a layer of lacquer was applied over the floor, the floor was cleaned and polyurethane was applied before the new layer of paint was finally put down–approximately a three week procedure between the application and drying process.

Quinn consulted all basketball and volleyball coaches and they gave their approval before the design was finalized.

Kate Putman, a middle hitter on the sophomore volleyball team, has similar thoughts about the power of the simple look.

“Everyone, especially the JV and varsity teams, thinks it’s nice when they have games in there,” Putman said. “It’s representative of what the school stands for.”

The new Huskie head at center court has been rotated 180 degrees and now faces the home bleachers, an intentional move during planning. The only error this presents is that the Huskie head will appear upside down from the broadcast booth on the north side of the gym. This will minorly affect viewing orientation on streaming services like the High School Cube. However, Quinn offers a remedy to this issue.

“If you don’t like the orientation, then come and watch it live,” Quinn said with a grin.