By MURRAY EVANS
Associated Press Writer
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Jon Collett loves Kentucky basketball so much, he camped out overnight just to obtain a free ticket to the team’s first practice of the season.
During the wait, the 17-year-old future Kentucky student played cornhole with one player, Lukasz Obrzut, and spoke with another, Ramel Bradley. But the real highlight for Collett came Friday night.
Collett was one of 23,174 fans who filled Rupp Arena to overflowing for Kentucky’s Big Blue Madness, held annually on the date when the NCAA allows basketball teams to begin practicing.
“This is so awesome,” Collett said as the arena filled with fans and a video of Kentucky’s NCAA tournament win over Cincinnati in March. “This is my first trip here, but it won’t be my last.”
Such zealousness by Kentucky fans meant the university set an attendance record for a Midnight Madness-type event. The previous record was held by North Carolina, which drew more than 21,700 fans to the Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C., in October 2003 for the Tar Heels’ first practice under coach Roy Williams.
“If we would build a bigger building, we would get more people, and I think we would sell it out, even if it was 50,000,” Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said. “We have a great audience, we have a great product and we have a great tradition here at Kentucky.”
That opinion was seconded by one of Smith’s predecessors, Joe B. Hall, who proposed using an even larger venue – the Wildcats’ football field.
“This is fantastic,” Hall told the crowd. “Next year, I suggest we go to Commonwealth Stadium.”
Since the inception of Big Blue Madness in 1982, it had been held in on-campus Memorial Coliseum, where the Wildcats played their home games during the tenure of legendary coach Adolph Rupp. That facility has about 8,700 seats, but its capacity now is limited to 5,600 because of ongoing construction of an adjacent practice facility.
The event’s move to Rupp Arena – where Kentucky now plays its home games – coincides with the 30th anniversary of that downtown facility.
Kentucky began distributing the free tickets for Big Blue Madness on Oct. 1, and about 20,000 tickets were claimed during the first 35 minutes of availability. It took a little more than 48 hours to distribute the rest of the tickets, athletic department spokesman Scott Stricklin said.
Collett was near the front of the line in front of Memorial Coliseum when ticket distribution began. Because of that, he and several friends from Lancaster ended up sitting on the second row Friday at Rupp Arena – an area usually reserved for major donors.
“It’s a whole lot better than being up there,” said Collett’s friend, David Williams, pointing to Rupp Arena’s upper level. “Down here, the players and cheerleaders don’t look like ants.”
Kentucky has drawn as many as 24,459 fans to Rupp Arena for a game, but Stricklin said the university wanted to limit the number of tickets distributed to the arena’s official capacity, which is 23,000.
“It really is madness,” Kentucky women’s coach Mickie DeMoss said. “This is the standard everyone measures their opening practice by.”
Kentucky, which spends the vast majority of its men’s basketball marketing budget on the event, planned to include touches like a propane torch that shot fireballs 30 feet into the air during player introductions. Kentucky brought in Jon Mason, the public address announcer for the NBA’s Detroit Pistons, to do the introductions. (Former Kentucky standout Tayshaun Prince plays for the Pistons.)
Smith called it more of an “opening ceremony” than a practice but acknowledged a little bit of anxiousness. Asked if his new players were ready for the event, Smith quipped, “I don’t know if I’m ready.”
Stricklin said it hasn’t been decided whether to keep the event at Rupp Arena, but “it’s being talked about. We’ll probably do whatever the fans want. It’s the ultimate fan event. You don’t charge for tickets and there’s not a whole lot accomplished other than showing the fans a good time.”
