Students and fans who didn't get men's basketball tickets this year, cheer up. Friday night marks UW's second Midnight Madness at 7 p.m"" event and it is open to the public free of charge. For the Badgers' purposes, the event is called ""Night of the Grateful Red,"" an opportunity head coach Bo Ryan called ""a chance to thank our fans.""
Badger fans might not be as familiar with Midnight Madness as some other college basketball fans around the country. Many schools have celebrated the event for years by opening up their team's first practice to the public at exactly midnight of the first day the NCAA allows teams to hold practice.
Ryan did not like the midnight start time and he pushed hard to get the NCAA to move the start time up. His work paid off as two years ago, the NCAA started allowing schools to start practicing at 7 p.m. the night before.
""I never did the midnight thing because I never thought that was good timing for 70 percent of the population,"" Ryan said. ""It's better than doing it at midnight, because when high school kids come they don't get home until late. We have recruits that come to this and they don't get home until 3 a.m., plus you have kids that want to come. What kid is going to be allowed to come see the Badgers from midnight until 1:30 a.m.?""
UW held an event last season and will do the same Friday night as the ""Night of the Grateful Red"" will tip off at 7 p.m. at the Kohl Center. The team will do some drills as fans file in, but it will mostly be a night of fun for those who attend.
Several players will compete in a dunk contest and a 3-point shooting contest and the players will sign autographs at the end of the event.
Ryan also indicated that a few select fans will get the opportunity to recreate and hit Kammron Taylor's game winning 3-pointer against Michigan State from last season. That shot was the last one fans saw in the Kohl Center as it was the last home regular season game of the season.
""We've got a situation here that's rare,"" Ryan said. ""There aren't too many places in the country where tickets are sold out ahead of time. And every opportunity we can get - and in this case the ""Night of the Grateful Red"" - it's students, it's people in town, it's kids, it's adults that can't get to see our guys in person. So we are doing this and we're also doing a Red-White Scrimmage to introduce our players to the public, get some autographs and to have some fun.""
It will also be an opportunity for recruits to get familiar with the team and even the fans.
""Some recruits will be there,"" Ryan said. ""Most of our recruits have been up here already. They've been up here on Saturdays for a football game and hung out with our guys a little bit.""
Friday will also mark the first time that the freshmen will step onto the Kohl Center floor wearing a Wisconsin jersey in front of a crowd. But it won't be an entirely new experience for freshman forward Keaton Nankivil (Madison Memorial) and freshman guard Tim Jarmusz (Oshkosh West), who have both played state championship games at the Kohl Center.
""Two of our guys have already played in the Kohl Center for state championships so this year there is only one guy, [freshman forward] Jon Leuer, who hasn't been in,"" Ryan said. ""But for them it's good to get them under the lights a little bit, see the atmosphere and it's a good way to get them started even before we have our first team practice. It's a good way to break the ice.""
Still, it's safe to say that Saturday morning will be a bigger wake-up call for the freshmen as they compete in their first official collegiate practice. Friday night is about the fans.
""A lot of people will tell you afterwards 'Thanks,' because they don't get an opportunity to see our guys during the season,"" Ryan said. ""What I would never want is for someone that wants to see our guys to say they never got the chance.""
