Bemidji State University men’s basketball captain Dillon Floyd is looking forward to the experience he and the rest of his BSU teammates will have when they step out onto the court at the Sanford Center for the first time.

BSU is hosting Minnesota State, Mankato and Concordia-St. Paul for a two-game Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference series, Jan. 16-17. The Beavers are shifting the games from BSU’s traditional on-campus home at the BSU Gymnasium into the city’s Sanford Center, which as been the home of Beaver Hockey since it opened in the fall of 2010. The Sanford Center has hosted basketball games in the past, with notable visits from the Harlem Globetrotters, but this series marks its first weekend as a home for Beaver hoops.

“We are really excited about playing at Sanford Center with a bigger gym and the potential to have a lot more fans,” said Floyd, a 6-9 senior from Palm Springs, Calif. “It will be awesome.”

Floyd and the rest of the Beavers will get an opportunity to practice at the Sanford Center before the weekend series kicks off against Minnesota State Friday night. However, he says the change in venue won’t lead to a change in how the Beavers prepare for the game.

“With practice on Thursday, we will get a good feel for the court and the atmosphere but stick to our principals like normal,” he said. 

Even so, the prospect of playing in a significantly larger arena with modern amenities has energized Floyd and the rest of his teammates.

“We are just really looking forward to the environment of the Sanford Center,” he said. “The lights, the court, the video board and everything else will make for a really cool feeling.”

So far this season, Floyd has played in all 14 games for BSU with a pair of starts. He has contributed nearly seven points and three rebounds per contest and leads the team with 11 blocked shots.