How to install an in-ground basketball hoop: the five-day plan, from the manuals

Hole and concrete by brand

Those are the makers' numbers, read on 2026-09-21 and linked in the sources; the manual in your box overrides all of them. The procedure below follows the Silverback SB60 and Goalrilla manuals, which describe the same steps.

Before day 1: 811, the site, the tools

Call 811. Both manuals open with it: “Before digging hole for anchor system, check for buried power, gas, water, and telecommunication lines! Failure to do so could result in serious or fatal injury!” 811 is the free national service; contact it a few business days before digging, wait for the utilities to mark, and dig carefully around the marks. Pick the spot with the overhang in mind: the anchor sits the overhang distance behind where the rim will hang (27 inches at 10 feet for the SB60, per its manual), the Silverback manual wants 18 inches minimum of rear clearance behind the pole, and Goalrilla recommends the footing be independent of the court slab with an expansion joint if you pour both. Where to put a basketball hoop covers the garage door and the street. Tools from the Silverback manual: nine 80-lb bags, a post-hole digger (or an auger rental), a wheelbarrow, a garden hose, a level, a tape measure, a 15/16-inch wrench and socket, and a concrete form for the top 4 inches (cardboard tube or a 2x4 box).

Day 1: dig, set the anchor, pour

1. Dig the hole to the manual's diameter and depth. If you hit rock you cannot get through, the Silverback manual says to call a contractor rather than shorten the hole.
2. Assemble the anchor: thread the bottom nuts onto the J-bolts, pass the bolts through the plate, add the top nuts. The bottom nuts are embedded forever; the top nuts level the pole later.
3. Set the form for the top 4 inches so the concrete finishes at court level (the Silverback manual specifies 20 inches diameter at the form).
4. Mix and pour to about 18 inches below court level. Follow the bag's water ratio; QUIKRETE's data sheet puts 6-9 pints per 80-lb bag.
5. Push the four rebar into the concrete 8 inches apart in a square at the center of the hole, then pour to court level.
6. Push the anchor into the concrete, agitate it to work out voids, and immediately level and square the plate to the court with a level. Clean concrete off the exposed threads.

Days 2-4: cure

“Let concrete stand for a MINIMUM of 72 hours” (Silverback; Goalrilla says the same and recommends day 5 for mounting). Goalrilla's guide adds cold-weather rules: do not pour below 40°F, use hot water and a curing blanket if you must. Keep the anchor bolts covered so nobody trips on them.

Day 5: assemble

The Silverback manual says the assembly “requires four adults”; Goalrilla's anchor manual says placing the post “requires at least four capable adults” because “pole will want to lean while attempting to stand it up on anchor bolts.” The order in both: build the pole and arm assembly on the ground, stand it on the bolts, thread the washers and nuts, plumb the pole with the leveling nuts and a post level, then, with at least three people, raise the backboard onto the arms, attach the rim and net, install the actuator, and cycle the height once. Finish with the pads.

Direct-bury hoops

The Silverback NXT and Goaliath GoTek in-grounds and the SB54iG have no anchor plate: the pole itself is set in the concrete, and the NXT pages describe concrete poured inside the pole too. Escalade's product pages do not publish their hole sizes; the paper manual does. The trade for the lower price is that the hoop cannot be unbolted and moved. Anchor kits explained.

When to hire it

A 72-inch board, a 745-lb Mega Slam crate, a driveway on rock, or two adults instead of four. Thumbtack's national average for basketball hoop installation is $130-$255 with in-ground at the high end; Goalrilla and Lifetime both offer professional installation. Installation cost has the line items.