Let the madness begin

More than 4,000 hungry basketball fans cheered early into Saturday morning as the Petersen… More than 4,000 hungry basketball fans cheered early into Saturday morning as the Petersen Events Center hosted its first event. Midnight Madness, the official start of the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball season, provided an exciting opening to the $100 million on-campus arena.

The evening started at 8 p.m. as 2,815 students angrily and anxiously waited in line for the student ticket lottery. After waiting in the line, which ran down Cardiac Hill and looped around O’Hara Street, only 1,000 lucky students won the opportunity to purchase men’s basketball season tickets.

The men’s basketball season is highly anticipated by Panther fans, who witnessed Pitt’s best season to date last year, with a school-record 29 wins and an appearance in the Sweet Sixteen in March. Adding to the excitement is the Panthers’ various preseason rankings, all of which are in the top 10.

There was also a lot of enthusiasm surrounding the opening of the new home of the Panthers, the Petersen Events Center. This set the stage for an explosive Midnight Madness.

Current Pitt recruit Dante Milligan, a 6-foot-8-inch forward from New York, was in attendance. He was impressed with all of the hype surrounding the evening.

“Everything is really nice,” Milligan said. “It is all real overwhelming right now.”

Former Pitt basketball star and former Harlem Globetrotter Orlando Antigua returned for the events.

“This place is unbelievable. It gives former players bragging rights,” remarked Antigua. “This has been a lot of years in the making. You couldn’t ask for better timing.”

Pitt was also lucky to have a special guest for the festivities in CBS basketball analyst Bill Raftery. A 19-year veteran for CBS Sports and Midnight Madness, Raftery is impressed with the team as well as the Pete.

“This might be the best facility in the East,” Raftery said. “It is really impressive and will definitely be a factor in key games later in the season.”

This year was Raftery’s first Midnight Madness experience at Pitt. Being familiar with the players and staff, Raftery was invited to host the event during the summer by men’s basketball head coach Ben Howland.

“Hosting Midnight Madness keeps me young,” said Raftery, who attends the events nationwide every season. “The kids are so animated. It is a wonderful experience.”

Midnight Madness, which was free and open to the student body as well as the general public, provided a night of basketball heaven. Fans, such as Pitt alumnus Bob Sulava, eagerly anticipated the start of the season.

“I have been a Pitt fan my entire life. I am disappointed that I couldn’t get season tickets, so this is the next best thing,” said Sulava, who believes the Panthers will have another spectacular season.

Festivities began at 11 p.m. with fan contests such as dizzy bats and a 25-second shooting competition. The dance team and cheerleaders led a small rally for the approximately 4,000 fans in attendance. After their performance, the court was officially swept for the first practice.

As midnight approached, WTAE-TV sports broadcaster Andrew Stockey announced the women’s basketball team. He also drew the lucky raffle number of who would shoot the $10,000 half-court shot to conclude the evening.

Raftery was then announced and started a “Go Pitt” chant. Led by the Oakland Zoo sitting full force at courtside, the crowd erupted as he introduced the 2002-03 men’s basketball team followed by a highlight film and message from Howland.

Both teams shot layups and jump shots for a few minutes before the contests began. The men started with a slam-dunk contest.

This is what Lil’ Panthers Courtney, Cody and Kyle Legters and friend Alex White had been waiting for all night. Kyle Legters, who will be dribbling on the court throughout the season during halftime, was excited to see his favorite Panther, Julius Page, participate in the contest.

“I am so excited to see JP,” Kyle enthusiastically screamed. “I want to see him slam-dunk and break the glass.”

Kyle was pleased as Page won the dunk contest hands-down while stealing the show. Page leaped over student manger Ricky Tyburski and grabbed an alley-oop pass from teammate Brandin Knight and nailed the dunk, all in one single bound. The crowd went nuts.

“I didn’t practice that dunk at all,” said the junior guard after he won the contest. “It was all freestyle.”

Sophomore Mark McCarroll, freshmen Ed Turner and Levon Kendall and McKees Rocks, Pa., native junior Gino Federico also participated in the contest. Federico also stunned the crowd with his dunk, which came from a backward between-the-legs pass.

It was the women’s turn to dazzle the crowd as they hosted a three-point shooting contest. Brooke Stewart, Haley Harguth and Amy Kunich were the shooters, who had two rounds to make as many three-point shots as possible. Harguth emerged the winner.

The men held their first scrimmage of the season for 12 minutes. The Gold team started McCarroll, Turner, Page, junior guard Jaron Brown and junior center Toree Morris. Federico was entered later on the Gold side. The Blue team was made up of Kendall, sophomore guard Yuri Demetris, senior forward Ontario Lett, sophomore forward Chevon Troutman and freshman guard Carl Krauser. Junior guard Carlo Dorazio and freshman guard Charles Small were substituted for Blue.

Morris, Lett and Troutman made numerous slam-dunks which electrified the crowd. Freshmen forwards Kendall and Turner started their Pitt careers with an explosive scrimmage performance with two dunks each. Highly anticipated guard Krauser provided some comic relief with his Pitt Panther socks and his friendly trash talking to Blue’s Dorazio. The Blue team defeated the Gold, 38-31.

“We are just trying to give the fans here a good show,” Troutman said. “It is great to have the media attention here tonight.”

The night concluded as Mike McCormick had a chance at winning $10,000. All he had to do was make the infamous half-court shot. McCormick stepped to the line and took a strong on-line shot, but it was a little too strong and deflected from the back of the rim.

As the night concluded, fans rushed the court for the opportunity to have their pictures taken with Julius Page. Page seemed to enjoy the fans’ pursuit and signed autographs for about 10 minutes. At one point he even took the shirt off his back and handed it to a young Panther fan.

Knight, who has been named the preseason Big East Player of the Year, was absent from scrimmage action and is anxious to start the season.

“Tonight was really good for our program,” Knight commented. “Having a celebrity of the magnitude of Bill Raftery really adds to the excitement.”

Knight also assured fans that his knee feels “good.”