Scarlet Knights Open Preseason with MidKnight Madness
Oct 14 | Men's Basketball
New Brunswick, N.J. (Oct. 14, 2011) - The Rutgers men's basketball team officially opened the preseason Friday evening with a MidKnight Madness celebration at the College Avenue Gymnasium. A capacity crowd of 1500 Scarlet Knight faithful filled the historic gym to get their first glimpse of the 2011-12 Scarlet Knights.
"Rutgers basketball is back," declared second-year head coach Mike Rice to the boisterous crowd. "It's back with the intensity, the urgency and the passion that you have been waiting for. The RAC has already been voted one of the toughest places to play in the BIG EAST. We need your support to keep it that way."
SNY television personality and Rutgers radio play-by-play voice Chris Carlin served as the emcee for the evening. The night was kicked off with highlights of the 2010-11 campaign, before introductions of every player, highlighted by a back flip by freshman Derrick Randall (Brooklyn, N.Y.).
Coach Rice had the fans on their feet when he performed a rendition of Vanilla Ice's 'Ice Ice Baby' with the rest of the Scarlet Knights and the dance team.
After some warm-up drills by the Scarlet Knights, a student shooting contest followed, in which one Rutgers student - Ryan Miller - won an AT&T cell phone.
Freshman Jerome Seagears (Silver Spring, Md.) won the dunk contest, corralling a pass from teammate Eli Carter (Willingboro, N.J.) and slamming it home. During the first round, the rookie grabbed a lob off the side of the backboard and threw it down to the crowd's approval.
Rutgers hosts Rutgers-Newark in an exhibition game Sunday, Nov. 6 at 2 p.m. The Scarlet Knights officially begin the season Friday, Nov. 11 against Dartmouth at the RAC. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
Season tickets for Rutgers basketball are available now. To place your order, please log on to http://tickets.scarletknights.com. You may also order by contacting the Rutgers Athletic Ticket Office in person at the RAC or by calling 866-445-GoRU (4678).
