Khalifa brings down the Pete at Pitt basketball’s #ZooAfterHours event

Pitt’s basketball teams worked hard and played hard at their #ZooAfterHours event to prepare fans for the upcoming season.

Following team introductions and a shooting competition, rap star and Pittsburgh native Wiz Khalifa took center stage to deliver a brief but hit-filled performance to students and fans at the Petersen Events Center Friday from 11 p.m. to midnight.

Khalifa entered to a “We want Wiz” chant from the Oakland Zoo and an introduction from event host and ESPN analyst Jay Williams.

“What a time to be alive,” Williams said as he opened the event. “Pitt basketball starts tonight.”

The night’s basketball activities featured a shooting competition between four teams of three current and former men’s and women’s basketball players. Players shot from various areas of the court as head coaches Jamie Dixon and Suzie McConnell-Serio playfully teased their respective players as they shot against a 1:30 clock.

“Hit the weight room, Cam,” Dixon joked, referencing redshirt freshman forward Cameron Johnson’s offseason workout regimen to add 20-30 pounds of muscle.

After two rounds of the competition, former Panther Tray Woodall’s team including junior guard Fred Potvin and junior forward Sheldon Jeter won over former guard Shayla Scott, senior point guard James Robinson and sophomore forward Yacine Diop.

“That’s the most emotion he’s ever shown,” DIxon said after Jeter celebrated hitting a halfcourt shot in the first round.

Williams complimented Jeter and several other Panthers after he saw them practice earlier in the day.

“Sheldon has really impressed me,” Williams said. “Today [in practice] he was in attack mode and was a beast down low. Michael Young too, I liked his swagger.”

Williams, who played at Duke from 1999 to 2002 and is currently an ESPN college basketball analyst, said this year’s men’s team reminds him of Pitt’s Big East squads of old.

“The ACC has this fast flowing, up-and-down game, and now you have teams that have identities, like Virginia and Pitt. And I think this team’s going to have a chance to be in a lot of ballgames this year,” Williams said. “I’m watching they way they’re checking guys, there’s hard contact and in the ACC, that’s a disruptor.”

Williams said there was not a comparable event during his time at Duke, but he said Midnight Madness provides a chance for coaches to make an impression on recruits and fans.

“I think what we’re seeing is in order for these coaches to be successful, you have to find a hook that differentiates yourself from other coaches,” Williams said. “Like [Kentucky coach] Calipari and how he brings in Drake.”

Williams said Khalifa’s presence registers to a younger audience.

“Those are things that transcend basketball,” he said. “Those are things that recruits read about and like. You build an entity.”

Khalifa entered with the men’s and women’s teams getting a close-up view on the court as students remained standing in their seats.

His performance opened with Pittsburgh anthem “Black and Yellow,” but moved to a more recent and somber song when he closed with “See You Again,” as students lining the lower bowl waved their illuminated phones in the air.

Dixon appreciated Khalifa’s presence in his hometown.

“I knew a few of Wiz’s songs, I’ve always appreciated that he’s a Pittsburgh guy and hasn’t forgotten his roots,” Dixon said. “He speaks to the city, he speaks to me, that’s special. He appreciates where he came from.”