Big Blue Madness, Presented by Ronald McDonald House, to be Held Oct. 11 in Rupp Arena
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Tickets for Big Blue Madness, presented by Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) of the Bluegrass, will be distributed exclusively online at Ticketmaster.com and through the Ticketmaster app starting at 5 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 27.
Big Blue Madness, the annual tipoff to the Kentucky men’s and women’s basketball seasons, will take place Oct. 11 in Rupp Arena at 7 p.m.
Tickets to Big Blue Madness will be free again this year. Due to the ongoing renovation of Historic Memorial Coliseum, there will be no in-person ticket distribution.
All patrons require a ticket for Big Blue Madness, regardless of age. Online orders will have a minimal service fee attached, and there will be a limit of four tickets per household. All duplicate orders will automatically be canceled. Due to high demand, UK Athletics cannot guarantee that all fans will receive tickets.
A limited number of tickets will be held for UK students, and information will be posted online at UKStudentTix.com once it is finalized. With limited quantities available, students may wish to consider ordering through the public distribution on Sept. 27.
Big Blue Madness Presented by RMHC of the Bluegrass will formally introduce new head coaches Mark Pope and Kenny Brooks and their inaugural Kentucky men’s and women’s basketball teams. Additionally, contests, practice drills, videos and more will bring in the official start to the 2024-25 basketball season. This will be the 19th time Madness has been held in Rupp Arena.
Fans interested in purchasing new season tickets for the upcoming year are encouraged to sign up now for the men’s basketball season ticket lottery. Season ticket pricing information is available here.
Fans interested in new lower-level season tickets that are available with a capital pledge commitment may contact the K Fund at (859) 257-6300 or KFund@uky.edu to learn more.
Fans interested in women’s basketball season tickets may purchase online here, or may contact the UK Ticket Sales team at (859) 257-1818, option 1 to learn more.
Pope and his staff have put together a dynamic roster for the 2024-25 season that features a mix of six fifth-year players, one senior, one junior, one sophomore and three freshmen.
UK’s veterans have combined to play in 845 collegiate games and have scored nearly 8,000 career points. Ansley Almonor, Lamont Butler, Andrew Carr and Amari Williams are all 1,000-point scorers. The group has also drained 1,033 career 3-pointers at a 37.0% rate.
Butler and Williams were named their league’s defensive player of the year, while Koby Brea and Jaxson Robinson have been tabbed a conference’s sixth man of the year in their career and Almonor was a most improved selection. Brandon Garrison is a former McDonald’s All-American. Kerr Kriisa has played in 99 career games and has made 238 3-pointers, while Otega Oweh has seen action in 60 games and was Oklahoma’s second-leading scorer a season ago.
Kentucky’s freshmen group includes Travis Perry and Trent Noah from the state of Kentucky and Collin Chandler, a former top-35 signee in the class of 2022. Perry is the state’s all-time leading scorer, while Noah broke the Sweet 16 state record for most 3-pointers drained in a single run with 19 this season.
Kenny Brooks’ women’s basketball team is ranked 25th in the most recent ESPN Way-Too-Early Top 25 and is projected as s six-seed in Charlie Creme’s latest bracketology report. Brooks’ roster features two returners, including Cassidy Rowe and Saniah Tyler, and 11 newcomers, including All-American, fifth-year point guard Georgia Amoore. The Wildcats boast a balanced and experienced roster, consisting of three freshmen, three sophomores, four juniors, a redshirt senior and two graduate students.
Three players, including Amoore (1,853), Dazia Lawrence (1,170) and Jordan Obi (1,142), are 1,000-point scorers, while Amelia Hassett, who played two seasons at Eastern Florida State College and was named a National Junior College Athletic Association Division I All-American in 2023-24, is close behind with 919 points. Brooks also signed a couple of freshmen with a lot of potential, including unanimous four-star guard Lexi Blue and 6-7 center from Portugal Clara Silva, who will tie Anna Cole (2010) as the program’s tallest player on record. In November 2023, Shane Laflin from ESPN said this about Silva, “If she was a player in the U.S., she’d safely land in the top 10 in the recruiting rankings.”
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s basketball team, follow @KentuckyMBB on Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and on the web at UKathletics.com. For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB on X, Instagram, and Facebook.
