Hoops Madness Starts At Midnight

It’s a couple of days later than usual, but college basketball officially returns to the sports scene tonight with the annual tradition of Midnight Madness.

The traditional starting date for practice had always been Oct. 15, except for 1993 when it was Nov. 1. The rules that went into effect for this season have practice starting with the Saturday closest to Oct. 15, and that means the Midnight Madness ceremonies get under way tonight.

About one-third of the 305 Division I schools, including defending champion Arizona, hold midnight practices, and the program has become pretty much formula - dunking contests, shooting competitions, prizes, celebrities and TV cameras.

When Lefty Driesell started Midnight Madness at Maryland 27 years ago, he had his players running a mile on the track in almost total darkness. Now there is enough light for ESPN to cover the event for the fifth straight year.

This season the national cable network will be broadcasting from Duke, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Tennessee. This will make it 15 different schools with a chance to show off on television how crazy students can act for an hour in a frenzied atmosphere.

It will also be a chance for four students to join Cory Clouse in the half-court shot hall of fame. Clouse, a student at Cincinnati, hit a shot from half court in 1994 and won a year’s tuition and room and board from ESPN as well as books from analyst Dick Vitale.

South Carolina will add in a celebrity game of HORSE with alumni participants Sterling Sharpe, George Rogers, Alex English and members of Hootie & The Blowfish.

Driesell will still be working at midnight, although it will be at Georgia State, where he takes over this season.

It will be the first Midnight Madness for the school located in downtown Atlanta.

At Boston College, first-year coach Al Skinner will conduct open tryouts for the student body to fill a roster depleted by graduation and transfers.

Less than a month after practice starts, the season officially begins with the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament at the Meadowlands in New Jersey, featuring Georgia, Texas, Princeton and North Carolina State.

It won’t be all that long before Selection Sunday, March 8, and that will be quickly followed by the Final Four in San Antonio on March 28 and 30.