More than 14,000 attend Hoosier Hysteria Friday

Junior D.J. White, senior Earl Calloway and freshman Xavier Keeling huddled together underneath the south basket in Assembly Hall. \nJunior A.J. Ratliff stood at halfcourt, dribbled the basketball a few times and took off toward the trio of Hoosiers. Ratliff leapt up toward the rim, over his teammates and slammed the ball down -- replicating his dunk contest-winning shot from last year's Hoosier Hysteria.\nRatliff's move was one of the only similarities to last year's event.\nThe IU men's basketball team participated in its annual Hoosier Hysteria event Friday night, providing Hoosier fans their first opportunity to see a new-look squad and first-year coach Kelvin Sampson in action.\n"I caught a little glimpse of the crowd, and I'm excited, real excited. I'm ready to roll," Calloway said prior to Friday night's event. "I told some of the younger guys to be ready for an experience because this is an experience. You can't describe it, you just tell them they have to go out and experience it for themselves."\nAlong with Sampson and the new coaching staff, four Hoosiers made their debut Friday night -- Keeling, freshman Armon Bassett and junior college transfers Mike White and Lance Stemler. Senior Errek Suhr said he told the team's newcomers what to expect out of the event.\n"My freshman year I was nervous, and right now I got the jitters too," Suhr said before festivities began. "I was trying to tell some of the younger guys ... you go out there, and there's about 17,000 out there. It's every game. It's every time we go out for (Hoosier Hysteria). You just can't get used to it. It's just amazing. It's a feeling that not a lot of people get to experience, and I'm just happy that I do."\nAfter the women's team completed its introductions and competitions, the men's team was introduced and took the court. Each player came out to a different song of his choice, as the Assembly Hall lights remained dim. \nSampson then addressed the crowd -- after several moments of waiting for it to quiet down -- and kept his message to Hoosier fans simple.\n"The first thing we're going to do, we're going to graduate our players," Sampson said. "Number 2, we're going to follow the rules, and we're going to do things right. And Number 3, we're going to compete our butts off to make you proud of us every single night."\nThe first-year coach addressed the crowd for several minutes before the team began running drills. The Hoosiers then took part in their annual three-point contest, with the senior Suhr edging out the freshman Bassett for the title. The dunk contest, however, wasn't so clear-cut. Sampson took the microphone during the finals and interrupted the competition, calling it "the worst dunk contest I've ever seen." \nTo finish out the night, the Hoosiers split up into a White Team and Red Team and scrimmaged. The Red Team, which included Bassett, D.J. White, Keeling, senior Rod Wilmont and freshman Joey Shaw, prevailed 15-13.\nWhen all was said and done, more than 14,000 fans packed into Assembly Hall to support the Hoosiers in their first official practice of the season. Junior D.J. White said he's just ready to get the year started.\n"I wouldn't say (this year is) more special than any other year, but we're just excited going into the season," he said. "We feel we've got a lot of things to prove -- a new coach, a new era, new faces around. We're just happy to be here"