Leon Chen said when he first arrived at USC in 2024, he wanted to shoot some hoops. He was directed to the university’s outdoor courts by his resident advisor, but after he turned up to the blacktop, the courts were under lock and key.
“They shut them down, bro,” said Chen. “USC has robbed me of my outdoor basketball experience.”
USC students previously had access to the Lyon Center basketball courts. A headline on the USC Recreational Center reads “Lyon Center Basketball Courts Closure (Starting May 15th),” though the rest of the page is now unavailable.
A Chen’s experience was not an isolated one.
USC also closed its recreational tennis and pickleball courts in September 2024. After the planned closure was announced, students came together to petition the university to change course in February 2024.
In a statement on its Recreational Sports website, the university confirmed the removal of its “existing recreational tennis and pickleball courts
“The university is actively investigating options for replacement of these courts in order to continue providing access to recreational tennis and pickleball facilities for the USC community,” the statement read.
More than one year later, some Trojans still have no place to play certain racket sports on campus.
According to Google Maps, public tennis courts are available at the Loren Miller Recreation Center — about a 30 minute walk away from University Park Campus (UPC). The closest public pickleball courts listed on Google Maps are about three miles away.
To some students, the closure of the recreational sports facilities symbolized more than just the loss of a place to play — for many, the courts also served as spaces to socialize.
Ben Llados, a junior studying business administration, said he used to play pickleball and tennis on the courts, which were located on the north end of UPC.
“I loved it,” he said. “I always found tennis as an outlet with my friends to socialize and kind of decompress from the school day.”
With the tennis courts now gone, Llados said he has few options in the area to play either of the two racket sports. He said this makes playing recreational tennis and pickleball on campus feel impossible.
“It definitely sucks,” Llados said. “All I’m going to say is there’s high pressure on Lincoln Riley,” Llados said.”I , because if we’re not going to win the [Big 10] next year, and we’re losing out on tennis courts, that’s just two big L’s.”
For Chen, the recreational basketball court have a big “social aspect” to them.
“I’d be grateful for more options to play,” he said. “That’s how I made most of my friends.”
Llados said there was a big community of students who would regularly play at the court.
“There was a solid 25 kids who would go pretty frequently, ” Llados said. “[I] started to catch some names and build a little community.”
Chen, a San Diego local who has friends at the University of California, San Diego, was particularly frustrated with recreational sport accessibility — especially when compared to other schools around the country.
“Relative to other schools, like other colleges and universities, we have a pretty limited space to play,” he said.
USC students can still access the basketball courts in the Lyon Center and the Physical Education building. Open recreation pickleball is also available at the Lyon Center, according to USC Recreational Sports.
Annenberg Media reached out to USC Student Life, but did not receive a response as to if USC had plans to build additional recreational facilities.