Basketball team puts out
schedule for this season
 By
Doug Healey
Assistant Sports Editor
For the first time since 1974, the Purdue and Indiana
men's basketball teams will only meet once during the regular season.
The Indiana game Jan. 31 in Bloomington, Ind.,
will be nationally televised on ESPN, as will Purdue's Feb. 16 home
game against Michigan State.
The team's final schedule was released Wednesday.
After they host two exhibition games in early November,
the Boilermakers will open the season on Nov. 17 at Valparaiso. The
first home game will be against Radford on Nov. 21.
Purdue will be playing in two tournaments honoring
former Boilermaker and legendary UCLA coach, John Wooden. The Wooden
Tradition will be held on Nov. 24 in Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis
and Purdue will face Stanford, the champion of the Pac-10 last season,
in the second game of the event.
The second tournament honoring the Boilermaker
legend, The John Wooden Classic, will be held on Dec. 8 in Anaheim,
Calif. The Boilermakers will face Arizona for the second straight year
in the event's first contest. UCLA and Alabama will face each other
in the second game.
There have been some changes for men's basketball
home games.
All students will enter Mackey Arena through Gate
C. They must have a student ticket and student identification to enter
the student section.
The promotions department will post an advertisement
in mid-September for one student fan representative who will lead the
student section in cheers and chants along with the cheerleaders. Students
wanting to be the fan representative will go through an interview process.
Purdue coach Gene Keady makes the final decision.
The student representative will be announced along
with the new name of the student section during a timeout of the home
football game versus Iowa on Oct. 6.
The students will also be handed a card upon entrance
to Mackey with information about Purdue and its opponent's history,
as well as instructions for what students will do during timeouts.
Keady has also made a change to accommodate the
students during each home basketball game. In a contest called "Instant
Upgrade," one student seat number will be drawn near the start of the
game. The student in that seat can choose one other person and watch
the game from Keady's personal seats behind the team's bench.
When students pick up men's basketball season tickets,
they will be given a student section-only T-shirt. The shirt's design
will be based on the new name of the student section.
Also new this season will be student tailgate parties
before men's and women's basketball games. Students will be served free
food outside of Mackey.
Some students may not be aware they already have
men's basketball season tickets. Anyone that has a Platinum card already
has paid for men's basketball season tickets and can pick them up before
the season.
Getting carded
They say it every year, but Purdue is finally cracking
down on a rule that's always been overlooked.
To enter the student section at Ross-Ade Stadium,
students must present their student ID card with their student ticket.
"It's not a new policy," said Lori Frost, Purdue
promotions director. "It's just never been enforced.
"Every other school checks IDs. It's not new to
the Big Ten or college football. We're just trying to protect the students
and make sure that only students get in the student section at the student
section price," she said.
Students are encouraged to arrive at games early
in order to avoid heavy traffic at the student gates close to game time.
The newly enforced rule will also cut back on the
number of student tickets that are scalped, making it tough for opposing
fans to acquire seats in the student section.
Frost said it will take effort and cooperation
from the students to make the change work.
Football ticket update
More than 41,000 season tickets have been sold
so far for home football games in 67,332-seat Ross-Ade Stadium. The
final total for season tickets sold last season was 43,700. The ticket
office is holding tickets back for students, but the deadline to purchase
season tickets under priority is Friday. Students can purchase tickets
via the Internet at www.purduesports.com. Tickets can also be purchased
at the Purdue Athletic Ticket Office inside the Intercollegiate Athletic
Facility or via phone at (800) 49-SPORT or (765) 494-3194.
No individual tickets are available for the Notre
Dame game, but single game tickets for the other five home games are
going fast. Approximately 11,500 single game tickets have been sold
for the Oct. 27 Homecoming game versus Northwestern. Approximately 8,400
individual tickets have been sold for the games against Iowa and Illinois.
The Akron and Michigan State games have sold more than 6,000 single
game tickets.
Starting Sept. 4, seniors can pick up their tickets.
Juniors and graduate students can claim their tickets on Sept. 5, followed
by sophomores on Sept. 6 and freshmen on Sept. 7.
|
