Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - College basketball madness commences at midnight for A&M-Corpus Christi's new teams

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Friday, October 15, 1999

College basketball madness commences at midnight for A&M-Corpus Christi's new teams

By Mark Zuckerman
Caller-Times

Outside of this little corner of the world, Midnight Madness at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi will probably come and go unnoticed tonight, registering nary a blink on the massive scope of big-time college basketball.
   Just don't tell that to Ronnie Arrow, Sheryl Estes, Dan Viola or anyone else who anticipates the return of college athletics to Corpus Christi after a 26-year hiatus.
   "Nothing will compare with this, because it's brand new," said Arrow, head coach of the Islander men's basketball team, making its debut as a Division I independent this season. "Even if you're at Kentucky and they've got 24,000 people there, nobody, nobody in the country can be having a Midnight Madness like us, because not only have we never done it, we've never even had a team to do it."
   The official start of the college basketball season, Midnight Madness has become an annual tradition at campuses across the country. Fans in the genuine college basketball hotbeds have been known to camp out overnight for a shot at tickets to the late-night practice on the first day the NCAA allows teams to take the court.
   A&M-Corpus Christi officials can only hope the event one day draws that kind of attention from students and fans. For now, they will be happy simply to drum up some support from the student body, many of whom will converge on the campus field house tonight at 10:30.
   While it does constitute the first practice of the season, Midnight Madness is essentially an event for the fans, not for coaches looking to install their motion offense. The X's and O's will have to wait until Saturday, when the hoopla dies down and both the Islander men's and women's teams hold two-hour practices minus the fans.
   "(Midnight Madness) is more geared toward our students than anything else," said Viola, A&M-Corpus Christi's athletics director. "When you start from scratch, you're starting from the beginning for everything. So this is really the first opportunity ever for our students to see the basketball players."
   Or, as head women's coach Estes put it: "From a coaching standpoint, I'm looking forward to Saturday."
   After an hour and a half of fan contests and performances by the Islanders' new pep band and cheerleaders, both the men's and women's teams will take the court at the stroke of midnight. The players will compete in a slam-dunk contest and a 3-point shooting contest before splitting up for a pair of short scrimmages.
   "I think it's going to be exciting for the players to have the crowd there and see the support we're going to get," Estes said. "And it's going to be exciting for the community and the students on campus to get a glance of team for the first time and to see it's a reality."
   Though most may not know it, fans did have an opportunity to be a part of Midnight Madness with the Islanders last year. Despite having only two players on campus, Arrow, dressed in a tuxedo, dragged transfers Pate Diene and Vladimir Ryzhov out of bed and into the field house for a late-night practice witnessed by a total of four fans.
   This year's event promises to be very different from the original Midnight Madness at A&M-Corpus Christi. For one thing, the gym should be packed with fans this time. And don't expect to see Arrow decked out in his formal wear.
   "I don't know if I can afford it again," he said.
   "Last year when we did it, it was mainly to show everybody what it could be like this year," Arrow said. "Actually, the four fans that showed up, I didn't know they were going to be there."
   And unlike last year, when Arrow's services as a practice player were necessary because of the depleted roster, the 5-foot-10 coach will leave the physical exertion tonight to his players, particularly when it comes to the slam dunk contest.
   "I think I'm more likely to wear the tux again than I am to try to slam dunk," he said.

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