If Yankee Stadium was the house that Ruth built, well, then Quicken Loans Arena is quite possibly the house that Lebron built.
Not that you'd get anybody in Cleveland to admit that now.
Still, the floor at the place known affectionately as "The Q" is the site where greatness began, as Lebron James had some of his biggest moments coming up with the Cleveland Cavaliers before ultimately taking his talents to "South Beach."
"There's not so much Lebron love now. Some of the player still love Lebron," laughed Wood County Christian girls' basketball coach Dave Weekley.
So when a high school team is given the chance to play on that court, there's a reason they're giddy with excitement months in advance.
The Wood County Christian boys' and girls' basketball teams will travel to The Q on Friday afternoon where they will face Ohio Valley Christian in a non-conference matchup at perhaps Ohio's biggest basketball venue.
"It's a great opportunity for both of our teams to play on the court up there at The Q and we're looking forward to it," said Wood County Christian boys' basketball coach Dan Ellis.
Friday will mark the second time that WCCS has had the opportunity to play at Quicken Loans Arena, with the first coming five seasons ago.
The Lady Wildcats will get the days' festivities started with a 2 p.m. game while the Wildcat boys will follow at roughly 3:30 p.m.
Game times were originally set for 2:15 and 3:45 p.m., but they were moved up 15 minutes.
After the conclusion of their basketball games, the Wood County Christian students will remain in Cleveland and attend the matchup between the Cavaliers and the Chicago Bulls.
The Wood County Christian players will even get the opportunity to form the tunnel for the Cavs as they come out onto the court at the start of the game, Weekley said.
"The school's excited for the student body and a lot of the parents and fans that follow our team to have this opportunity to not only watch us play at Quicken Loans Arena, but also get to watch the Cavs and the Bulls," Ellis said.
Before the Cavs and Bulls can take the court, The Q will belong to Wildcats.
The WCCS girls, which are 4-8 on the season, are looking to bounce back into the win column after dropping a 50-18 decision to Grace Christian on Tuesday night.
Weekley considers Tuesday's game the worst his team has played, as they shot just 14 percent from the field and were 0-for-11 from the free throw line. That came on the heels of a 3-for-19 performance from the free throw line, so shooting will be a big key for the Lady Wildcats on Friday.
Combine the Lady Wildcats' shooting woes with the size of the venue, and it could be a tough adjustment for the WCCS girls.
"I thought about doing the Hoosiers thing, showing it was 15 feet to the back of the basket and 10 feet up to the rim like Gene Hackman," Weekley joked.
The Lady Wildcats are averaging just 32.2 points per game offensively while allowing opponents to score just 39.2, meaning Friday's contest could well be a low-scoring affair.
"If the score gets too much in the 40s and 50s we'll probably be in trouble," Weekley said.
Adria Herridge leads Wood County Christian with an 8.9 point per game average. Kayla Haessly is contributing 7.5 rebounds a game for the Lady Wildcats.
Following the girls' game on the big court, it'll be the boys turn to play on the same court where only hours later reigning NBA MVP Derek Rose will take to the court for the Bulls.
"It'll be an adjustment, but both teams are in the same boat. We're just stressing with our guys, all the excitement of getting to play up there we can't lose focus of the fact we have a tough opponent and we have to be ready to play," Ellis said.
Wood County Christian's boys enter Friday's game as the owner of an 11-3 record and have four players averaging in double figures scoring.
Kalen Gandor leads the Wildcats averaging 14.5 points a game while Seth Rataiczak is at 12.8, Tyler McIntosh is at 12.0 and Josh Ungar is at 10.9.
As a team the Wildcat boys average 66.3 points a game while giving up just 51.2 a contest.
The Wildcats have not faced Ohio Valley Christian in several years, though the two schools were scheduled to meet last season. Inclement weather forced the postponement of those games, boys and girls, and they were never made up.
Even though they haven't seen each other play, Ellis knows Ohio Valley Christian has to be a solid team as they have faced some identical teams, such as Teays Valley.
"We can't go up there and try to do more than what we've been doings, just play within our team and our system. If we can take care of what we do best I feel like we'll give ourselves a chance to win the game," Ellis said.
Though last year's game was never made up, the two schools will get their chance to meet on Friday when they'll be on a much grander scale venue than what they could've hoped for a year ago.
As big as The Q is, and as many famous players as have stood on that court, the players still have to remember it's still just a basketball court.
It's just the building the court sits in that's so grand.
"The boys have been looking forward to this since they found out about it, actually last spring. Here we are at that point in the schedule we're getting ready to go," Ellis said.
