Members of the men’s basketball team handed out pizza to campers on Thursday night. (Chet White, UK Athletics)
For the record-setting crowd of campers surrounding Memorial Coliseum, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.As the first control cards were handed out to ticket seekers at 2 p.m. on Friday, the final official tent count reached approximately 595, 25 more than the 2011 campout that previously had the record. There are still a few new tents being set up here or there, but by this point most of the crowd has been patiently waiting for as much as 55 hours since tents could officially be set up at 7 a.m. on Wednesday. With tickets set to finally be distributed at 7 a.m. on Saturday, that patience is about to be rewarded.We will have some additional coverage from “Tent City” on Friday night, but before then, we at UK Athletics would like to thank campers for your passion. An event like this is truly a rare thing. To those campers who have not yet received a control card, please bear with us.