Every time Andrew White steps on the court before a shoot-around, he walks to the rack of balls and picks one up. Then he slaps it, feels it out and begins his preparation for the upcoming game.

It’s a process he needs to perform because the ball at each venue in the college game is different.

Syracuse uses the Nike Elite ball in the Carrier Dome. On Saturday at the Barclays Center, the Orange played with an Adidas ball. SU will play with a Sterling ball on Tuesday night when it visits Wisconsin, the only school in a Power 5 conference and one of the only in the country to use that brand.

“You kind of take for granted the feel of the ball,” White said.

The No. 22 Orange (4-1) travels to the Kohl Center to face the No. 17 Badgers (5-2) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. The NCAA doesn’t regulate what ball to use outside of the NCAA Tournament and the home team is tasked with providing it. While players nationwide and on SU say the ball has no effect on games, research has proven otherwise and some have said they’d prefer the ball to be the same for every game.

Wisconsin has used Sterling dating back to 2001, when Bo Ryan took over as head coach. The company based near Tacoma, Washington, sponsored the balls at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville when Ryan was the head coach there. Throughout the rest of his coaching career, his teams used Sterling.

Before this season, only two brands were used by just one Power 5 team — Sterling (Wisconsin) and The Rock (Michigan) — but the Wolverines recently switched to Nike, making UW’s the most uncommon among the game’s biggest powers.

Courtesy of David Stluka | Wisconsin Athletics

White is the only SU player who has played at Wisconsin in his career. He said the Sterling ball reminds him of the Wilson Evolution, a popular ball White grew up playing with. It has more grip and is slightly softer than the Nike ball SU uses, he said.

“I’m not sure how much that tells you,” White said, downplaying the effect the ball has.

But according to Syracuse University sport management professor Rodney Paul, the ball has an impact on the game. Paul’s research found that overall scoring between the two teams decreases 1.4 points per game when one team is using an unfamiliar ball and the visiting team’s shooting percentage decreases by about 1 percent.

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In the study, Paul controlled for variables by using betting market data to set the expected values of point totals. Regressions were run based on data from the past three seasons comparing the combined total points of both teams, field-goal percentage and 3-point percentage when Power 5 teams use a different ball, going from Nike, Wilson, Adidas, Spalding, Under Armour, Sterling and The Rock to each of the other brands used by Power 5 teams.

While the study as a whole proved to have an effect that was statistically significant, the effect of Sterling balls couldn’t be found statistically significant because of the small sample size. Teams that normally play with Nike balls shot 3.8 percent worse from the field than the expected value when playing with Sterling. Syracuse will fall into that category when it plays Tuesday night and, according to the study, the Orange likely won’t shoot as well as it’s expected to.

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The study showed that 2-point field goals are affected more than 3-point field goals and while there’s no definitive answer why, Paul said he thinks it’s because 2-point shots require more touch, something affected more by an unfamiliar texture and feel.

“It could just be that shooters are shooters,” Paul said, “and that they’re such good shooters because they can adjust to things that are around them much more easily.”

Every ball is required to have a “deeply pebbled leather or composite cover,” have a circumference between 29.5 inches and 30 and weigh between 20 and 22 ounces. When dribbled vertically without rotation, it must return directly to the dribbler’s hand.

But there are no regulations on the texture and feel of the ball.

White recalled playing at the Battle 4 Atlantis with Kansas during his sophomore year and since the Nike ball was brand new, it was “hard as a rock,” he said. White went 2-for-8 from the field in the three-game stretch.

“I’ve been in gyms where you come in and shoot around and they give you a flat rack of balls,” White said.

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When Syracuse freshman Tyus Battle played with Team USA junior teams, the ball used by the International Basketball Federation was “a little bit slippery,” he said. Both Battle and White said once they spend a few minutes warming up, the ball doesn’t affect them much even though they notice occasional differences.

The issue isn’t limited to college players. In 2006, the NBA switched to a microfiber composite ball for three months but the outcry throughout the league forced it back to its typical leather Spalding ball.

“Whatever ball is used for the NCAA Tournament,” White said, “that should be the ball that everyone in Division I uses.”

In the Tournament, a Wilson ball is used. But David Worlock, the NCAA’s director of media coordination for men’s basketball, said there have been no discussions about mandating this piece of equipment, despite several players voicing their opinions nationwide.

With no change in the foreseeable future, White said the difference in balls on the road is something players have to ignore.

“The ball’s the same size, the hoop is 10 foot, so players have to make plays,” White said. “It’s more of a psyche thing than anything. So I think that’s something you have to … just make sure you’re ready to come in and not focus on things like that.”

Published on November 28, 2016 at 11:18 pm

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