As the men’s basketball team continues its winning streak and rise to the top of the Coaches and AP Poll, the value of players’ signatures has risen as well.

For Charles Koch Arena this means extra security precautions have been taken to protect the players physically and from potential autograph thieves.

While most people get a signature from players for the memory and novelty, some people get a signature to make extra cash. They do this by simply obtaining the player’s signature from a ticket stub, piece of paper, etc. and then selling it.

“If we see an obvious dealer, we’re going to try to address it and go from there,” said Brad Pittman, associate athletic director of facilities and operations.

The potential for profit can lead into the thousands. A prime example of this is the signed basketball by the 2013-2014 men’s basketball team that is up for auction for roughly $2,000 on GoShockers.com.

However, this may just be the curse of being a No. 2 nationally ranked team.

“I’m sure that stuff happens everywhere,” said Jared Brown, who works with facilities and operations in the athletic department. “You can’t really stop it.”

The players continue to say hello and give autographs to fans waiting for them after the games.

 “Marshall and the players seem to like it,” Brown said. “They love the support from the fans.”

With the extra security, there is now a rope to keep fans back from the tunnel that the players enter and exit from on game days. There is also added in-crowd security.