Guide to Midnight Madness (With recruits!)

Posted: Friday, October 16, 2009 10:19 AM
Filed Under: Midnight Madness

James Crisp/AP

Kentucky fans usually fill Rupp Arena to capacity during Midnight Madness

Tonight, everyone gets caught up in the madness. Well, almost everyone.

Midnight Madness (Thanks, Lefty Driesell) has kicked off the college basketball season for years, but it’s becoming bigger than ever. Once schools figured out the first day of practice (officially, tomorrow, thus the midnight) could be a showcase for fans and an excellent recruiting tool, everyone got in on the act.

It’s even televised. (Though you could always follow the events on Rush the Court’s live blog.) The only thing better would be if it were March Madness. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Here’s a guide to Midnight Madness.

ESPNU is handling the live coverage, from 9 p.m.-1 a.m. ET, with a simulcast on ESPN2 from 11:30 p.m.-Midnight, ET. (Mostly scrimmages and highlights on the simulcast, none of the skits and speeches.) It’s no small production, either.

They’ll have cameras and commentators at nine schools – Connecticut, Duke, Georgetown, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, North Carolina, North Dakota State and Washington. Yes, NDSU is part of the party. Fresh off their first-ever NCAA tourney berth, the Bison are giving away free pizza and having a $10,000 half-court shot.

And what do other schools have prepped? (Though this is an incomplete list)

• It’s the 25^th late night at Kansas, which has gone from Late Night with Larry Brown to Later with Roy Williams, Late Night with Roy Williams and is current version, Late Night in the Phog. That’s a lot of missed sleep.
• Tar Heel fans will watch Roy Williams do his shuffle at Late Night with Roy.
• John Calipari says Kentucky fans deserve a show tonight. No kidding. They’ve been dying to see this team.
• Here’s a fond look at what may have been Georgetown’s first late night.
• It’s not just the UConn men, but the national champion UConn women, too.
• Washington’s starting things up right after its third-ranked volleyball team plays against UCLA. Gotta love the multi-sport evenings.
• Michigan State’s unveiling its new Final Four banner tonight, while in-state rival Michigan is hosting its first midnight event since 1996.
• At Indiana, it’s called “Hoosier Hysteria.” At Clemson, it’s called “Rock the ‘John.”
• And you didn’t think Maryland – where Lefty started this while – would miss out on this party, right? Comcast is handling the broadcast.

But the real reason most of this is done? For recruits. Coaches figured out long ago that when you fill arenas with fans who came to watch a glorified practice, play some rock music and put on a big light show, it impressed the hell out of high school players who haven’t seen that kind of show before.

Making the Dance has a comprehensive list of which recruits are going to be where, including the top seniors, juniors and sophomores.

Indiana and Marquette have a ton of underclassmen attending, while Kansas and Kentucky seem to be playing host to most of the top N.Y. and N.J. talent. When you’re watching ESPN’s coverage, keep a look out for those guys in the letter jackets right behind the benches. Chances are, they’ll be on those benches again in a few years.