After a few years of skipping Midnight Madness activities in favor of more family friendly fare, Pitt is bringing it back and with some flair.
Pitt plans on making a statement in its final season in the Big East by resuming its traditional role under Jamie Dixon as a title contender after last season’s NCAA miss. To tipoff the campaign, the Panthers are doing something out of the box for the more maligned Panthers by hosting a Midnight Madness event — outside. The unique event will be a part of the school’s 225-year anniversary celebration. The men’s and women’s teams will play on a wooden outdoor floor, near the Pitt Union. Lights, bleachers and a video board will be brought in for the free event that should begin after a fireworks display at 9:15 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 12. If the weather doesn’t cooperate then the teams will go inside at the Petersen Events Center.
It also, just happens to be Homecoming weekend.
Yes, the whole playing outdoors is a bit of a gimmick — whether on an aircraft carrier or on a New Years Day hockey game. Still, this seems like a great idea. Not to mention being set right in the middle of campus.
In other Pitt basketball news, still no full schedule. The NIT Season Tip-Off is the hold-up as they don’t actually have enough teams for the early on-campus games. What?
ESPN.com took a look at the impact transfers and small predictions on their performance (Insider subs.).
When he was a recruit coming out of high school, Zeigler said no to the likes of Michigan State, UCLA, Arizona and Michigan to attend Central Michigan and play for his father. Then his dad was fired, and Zeigler was granted a waiver by the NCAA to play immediately for Jamie Dixon at Pitt. When an elite recruit plays for what might have been the MAC’s second-worst team, the results are likely to be indecipherable. Zeigler, not unreasonably, tried to do it all for the Chippewas and, not surprisingly, missed an astonishing number of shots (525 in two seasons). All that collective and individual suffering actually masked a measurable improvement registered by Zeigler as a sophomore.
Prediction: Zeigler is going to be surprisingly solid as a Big East scorer, making half of his 2-point shots. Unfortunately for Panther fans, his percentage from the free throw line will be similar.
If there is one knock on Zeigler, it is that he is reminiscent of Brandin Knight… at the free throw line.
After all, Pitt is a …. school.
Channel your inner Iverson: “We’re talkin’ about practice”
They had a chance to do something truly unique, outside the box, engage people/students: a chance to bring an urban game literally back to the streets, in the shadow of an architectural masterpiece…the Beatles rooftop concert of college hoops, breaking it down in front of the people, a Picasso of the streets, on maybe the most interesting short segment of pavement in Pittsburgh.
Just think of what Pitt could have done if they had dreamed a little and done something uniquely PITT!
But instead, we will follow the 10-20 people who will show up at midnight at the Pete and listen to the drone of shoes squeaking across the hardwood and the muffled echoes of teammates calling for the ball…us and 500 of our D1 hoop peers all doing the same boring thing.
ARE YOU OUT IF YOUR MIND WBB? THIS IS GREAT!! NIT AS GOOD AS VIAGRA, BUT DAMN CLOSE.
Kudos to Pitt….awesome idea!
I would be interested to see his free throw percentage at the end of games when he is fatigued. In Jamie’s system, the pressure to score should be alleviated somewhat, which would be good for him. Time will tell and I wish him well as he will be an important “piece” to the puzzle this year.
Outdoor hooping will be interesting. Hopefully we have some indian summer to make this happen without weather issues! Great idea.