Bobcats tip off new season

More than 1100 students, faculty and locals filled the Centennial Center Oct. 14 for GC&SU’s Midnight Madness, the party that signals the start of college basketball practice.

“This is a celebration of preseason conditioning being over,” Lady Bobcats Head Coach John Carrick said. “There is nothing fun about them. These players would play this scrimmage out on a dirt court and they’d be happy.”

NCAA rules state that official practice may not begin until Oct. 15. GC&SU holds Midnight Madness to begin the basketball season the first second available, at midnight.

“This is great for the team because they have done nothing for six weeks but condition,” Bobcats Head Coach Terry Sellers said. “They have been running, lifting weights and playing pick-up games. It is good for them to play together in front of fans.”

GC&SU used to hold the event at 8 p.m. to give the community and younger kids a chance to participate, but midnight seems to have a larger turnout.

“Midnight Madness unifies the student body. It doesn’t matter what group you hang out with, everyone can hang out and meet new people,” said freshman marketing major Maddie McConnell. “This gets students pumped for the upcoming season.”

This year’s event began at 11:30 p.m. and featured free pancakest, a three-point shooting contest and a half court shootout in which two GC&SU students had a chance to win $350 worth of free textbooks.

“It’s a good chance to meet new people and for friends to get together and hang out,” said freshman marketing major Brandon Chaney.

The GC&SU Lady Bobcats started the event with a 20 minute scrimmage that began at midnight.

The Lady Bobcats white team beat the green team 27 to 26 with a buzzer-beating shot.

Sophomore Ashley Williams chipped in 10 points for GC&SU green.

Junior Cassie Miliner played all 20 minutes of the scrimmage and led the white team with eight points.

“(The players) try to take it a little serious, but mostly, we just try to enjoy it and have fun playing against each other,” Miliner said.

The Bobcats followed with their scrimmage. The white team edged the green team 33 to 23.

Senior Bryan Harrison led the white team with 12 points, and senior Ronnie Dennis led the green with nine points.

“Midnight Madness gives the students a chance to see us play as a team,” Harrison said. “The turnout was great. I didn’t think there’d be that many people here because it was a Friday night.”

The GC&SU dance team followed the scrimmages with a performance, and then a three-point contest was held between the Bobcats and Lady Bobcats.

“What could be better then baskets and batter?” said sophomore Thomas Crawford. “It allows me a chance to scream my head off at people I don’t even know.”

The Lady Bobcats first real practice was on Oct. 15 at noon. The team practiced 180 minutes and then hit the weight room.

“A few things I noticed we need to work on is that shooters need to come around screens faster and tighter, and we need to throw into the low post more,” Carrick said. “We will start by concentrating on the fundamentals, starting with basic drills.

“My philosophy is mostly about defense. Players can work on their offense a lot on their own, but it is hard to work on defense by yourself.”

Both teams know they have a lot of things to perfect as they approach the season.

“We know we have to start from the basics,” Sellers said. “We need to work on all phases of the game, the whole ball of wax.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 21 2005. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry