College basketball season opens with Midnight Madness

(AP) -- North Carolina fans gave Roy Williams a welcome even he couldn’t have expected.

A standing-room-only crowd of more than 21,700 was on hand Friday night for Midnight Madness in the Smith Center, the Tar Heels’ first under Williams.

Wearing a Carolina blue turtleneck and a sport jacket, Williams was introduced to the crowd at 10:30 p.m. and he broke down as the standing ovation went on for two minutes. A lot of those in the crowd bowed to Williams as he repeatedly waved to them.

‘‘I’m excited about tonight,’’ Williams said. ‘‘We’re going to do some things here that I don’t think Coach Smith would do, but that’s OK.

‘‘All I know is on Nov. 22, it’s going to be a great thrill for me to walk through that tunnel for our first game.’’

Williams joined his new players in a dance skit before the team held a scrimmage.

The Tar Heels were one of the 100-or-so Division I schools that held a Midnight Madness to officially welcome in the start of practice at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.

Kentucky held Big Blue Madness for the 22nd consecutive year and like the others a ticket was hard to come by. The 8,700 tickets available were distributed in 47 minutes last weekend.

This year’s theme was ‘‘The Future of Kentucky Basketball’’ as the program began its 101st season.

‘‘I tell our players all the time that no one person is bigger than the program,’’ Wildcats coach Tubby Smith said. ‘‘I have an analogy I tell them, to put your hand in a bucket of water and take it out. Do you see any water missing?’’

Most of the Midnight Madnesses featured the stock 3-point shooting contests, scrimmages and dunking exhibitions.

Maryland coach Gary Williams suspected there would be more dunks in the brief intrasquad scrimmage at a packed Comcast Center on Friday night than in all the practice sessions leading up to the Nov. 22 season opener.

‘‘That’s what they like to do,’’ Williams said of dunking. ‘‘This is their last night for a long time.’’

Indiana fans got a chance for their earliest look at freshman Pat Ewing Jr., the son of the former NBA center. The 6-foot-8 freshman has already been called a key to the Hoosiers’ success by teammates. Besides being four inches shorter than his father, the uniform number will be different, as well.

Ewing didn’t take his father’s No. 33, which has been hoisted to the rafters of Madison Square Garden, rather he will wear No. 3 for Indiana.

‘‘I took one three from my dad,’’ he said. ‘‘I haven’t earned the other No. 3 yet. He’s a great player, and maybe when I feel I’ve earned the other No. 3, I’ll take it.’’

St. Bonaventure used Midnight Mayhem to welcome fans back to the Reilly Center for the first time since last season ended abruptly in March when players refused to play the final two games amid a player eligibility scandal.

First-year coach Anthony Solomon, a former assistant at Notre Dame, finally got to be on the court after spending the start of his tenure at the school mending fences and trying to get people to focus on the Bonnies.

‘‘I will say that I’ve been tested away from the court for the first five months quite a bit, but that’s all part of it,’’ Solomon said. ‘‘There’s a lot of work to be done but we like where we’re headed.’’

 

22,000 people to watch a basketball practice.

You think those fans are stoked or what?

 

No wossa, they wanted to see a UNC Chapel Hill team win at home.

 

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ~!!!!!!!

 

hey HP - I'll take my five and beat your five.


any day of the week

 

Thousands of North Carolina fans turn out to greet new coach Roy Williams at start of season


This part of the article I found quite interesting:

Bill Self moved from Illinois to replace Roy Williams at Kansas and his first "Late Night in the Phog" in a packed Allen Fieldhouse included a ceremony honoring the Wildcats' 1988 national championship team.


Since when did Kansas become the Wildcats???

 

at least UNC let the students in for free instead of charging $6 a head like dook does.