Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Missouri expects 3,000 fans to come to Mizzou Madness Friday night, and Kansas State might get 7,000 for Madness in Manhattan. The rest of the Big 12 schools don’t even have an open practice Friday night to start the season.
Kansas’ Late Night in the Phog is different.
Few schools can match the fan passion and atmosphere present in Allen Fieldhouse for Late Night, making the night a valuable recruiting tool for the Jayhawks.
“After that first one, it’s something else,” senior guard Russell Robinson said.
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It was real impressive having it on Fall Break and seeing it still packed full. Some schools’ late night may have five or 10 thousand but when they come to Kansas, it’s going to be sold out if it’s a championship or a scrimmage.
-freshman Cole Aldrich
Kansas’ Late Night tradition has been strong since the era of former coach Roy Williams. During the last years of his tenure, the Fieldhouse was nearly packed to capacity every season for the midnight scrimmage. The same has been true during Kansas coach Bill Self’s stint.
The atmosphere sends a perfect message to recruits: 16,300 people care enough about basketball to watch a 20-minute, intra-squad scrimmage. That means Kansas has a definite advantage over schools that don’t bother to put on Midnight Madness’ or that don’t attract many fans.
“There are very few schools out there that have kept the tradition alive,” said Shay Wildeboor, senior editor for kansas.rivals.com. “Other schools come and go with it, but they set the bar. It’s a huge tool.”
It helped entice freshmen Cole Aldrich and Tyrel Reed. Aldrich has been to Late Night three times. Reed has been six times.
“It was real impressive having it on Fall Break and seeing it still packed full,” Aldrich said. “Some schools’ late night may have five or 10 thousand but when they come to Kansas, it’s going to be sold out if it’s a championship or a scrimmage.”
Not all recruits get hooked after seeing Allen Fieldhouse at Late Night. Kyle Singler visited during Late Night last year and signed with Duke. Other big-time prospects, such as Jamal Sampson and Josh Childress, spurned Kansas for Pac-10 Conference schools after Late Night when Williams was coach.
Markieff and Marcus Morris, twin power forwards from Philadelphia, will make their official visits to Late Night this year. They’ll see the capacity crowd. They’ll see students carry mock KU jerseys with their names on the back.
They’ll see one of the few real Late Nights.
“I think it’s the best atmosphere in college basketball,” Reed said. “The fans here are great. The tradition is great. Everyone here loves basketball, and you can just see it by the fan support we have.”
—Edited by Chris Beattie
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Comments
Basketball Preview: October 10, 2007
Just one correction - Late Night did not become a phenomenon with the arrival or Roy Williams on campus. Late Night with Larry Brown started in 1985, and over 6,000 fans attended the first-ever Late Night. I attended Late Night with Larry Brown in 1986 and 1987. The crowd grew in 1986, and by 1987 Allen Field House was packed for Late Night (helped by the fact that there was no Fall Break back then).
Basketball Preview: October 10, 2007
I was attending Late Night with Larry Brown in the Fall of 1983. It was a fund raiser, as now, for the local food banks.
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