It wasn’t midnight, and it wasn’t mad, but it was a
start. Approximately 800 students showed up yesterday to support
the UCLA men’s and women’s basketball teams at the UCLA
Basketball Tipoff Party, organized by the Den, featuring
scrimmages, a dunk contest, a 3-point contest, and speeches by
coaches Ben Howland and Kathy Olivier. “First and foremost,
all of these athletics programs here at UCLA are for the
students,” Howland said. “I’m really happy we
could do this.” UCLA students got their first look at the
men’s and women’s teams this season, as the men played
a 30-minute inter-squad scrimmage while the women scrimmaged their
scout team for 15 minutes. The men open their season Nov. 4 with an
exhibition game against Carleton College, while the women face Love
and Basketball on Nov. 6. “It’s my senior year,
it’s the first time we’ve had it, and I thought it
turned out great,” said center Ryan Hollins, who squeaked by
freshman point guard Darren Collison to win the dunk contest.
“We probably could have had some more fans here, but support
was big.” That sentiment seemed to be echoed by most of the
people involved with the event. People were pleased with the
turnout, especially considering that this was the first year, but
individuals involved with the organization of the tip-off party
feel that there is room for improvement. “We didn’t
know what to expect because we’ve never done this
before,” said Marc Sawyer, president of the Den.
“I’m pleased. I’m pleased with the turnout,
I’m pleased with the prizes, and I’m pleased that the
players really seemed to be excited about it. “I definitely
think this is going to stick around and get bigger, but changes
need to made.” Ultimately, many fans and players would like
to see a Midnight Madness like that at schools such as Duke, North
Carolina and Kentucky. Held at midnight the day that teams are
allowed to begin practicing, these schools draw thousands of fans
to their Midnight Madness event. Howland certainly sees it
happening in the future, but he said it wasn’t done this year
because the football team was on the road that weekend and the
logistics simply wouldn’t have worked out. The last time UCLA
had a Midnight Madness was before the 1995-1996 season, the season
after the Bruins’ last national title. “We’ll do
it when it fits in,” Howland said. “I’m not so
concerned about it right now.” The event, which lasted from 5
to 6:45 p.m., began with the men’s scrimmage. It was followed
by the dunk contest, perhaps the most exciting time of the evening,
the 3-point contest, which featured three teams of one men’s
player and one women’s player, and the women’s
scrimmage. “The players just love stuff like this,”
Olivier said. “They’re just so proud to be UCLA
students.” Olivier said she wished her team would have had
more time to warm up, adding that she knows that they can, and
will, play better than they scrimmaged on Wednesday. For the Bruin
men, the tip-off party provided a chance to show off a little bit
and give something back to the fans who supported them in their run
to the NCAA Tournament last season. In his speech, Howland credited
the students for bringing excitement to Pauley Pavilion and making
an impact in comeback victories like the ones over Washington State
and Washington last season. “The students have been great
support for our program,” Howland said.
INJURY UPDATE: The men’s team is still
suffering from injury problems, as center Michael Fey, forward
Alfred Aboya and guard Josh Shipp are all yet to practice. Fey was
diagnosed with a severe groin pull before the start of practice,
and Howland is hesitant to rush him back so he doesn’t
re-aggravate the injury. Howland said he expects Fey to be doing
non-contact drills towards the end of next week. Aboya, who had
arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Oct. 12, will be
practicing without contact on Monday. For Shipp, Wednesday marked
one month since he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right hip.
He is now walking without crutches, and Howland has set a target
date of Dec. 21 for Shipp’s return to game action.