Ready for hysteria

Friday night’s Hoosier Hysteria might be the first official practice for the IU men’s basketball team, but D.J. White knows better.\n“It is for the fans,” said the senior forward. The real practice begins Saturday.\nBut that won’t stop the Hoosiers from having a little fun with the fans. The team will participate in a 3-point shooting contest, a slam-dunk contest and an intra-squad scrimmage as a showcase for fans. \nDon’t just expect White to shine in the dunk contest on Friday.\n“I might be in the 3-point contest,” the 6-foot-9 post-player said with a smile. “Don’t be surprised if I win, though.”\nThe festivities will be the first time IU fans can see one of the most-hyped \nHoosier teams in recent history. The addition of freshman guard Eric Gordon and White’s return have many college basketball magazines picking the Hoosiers as a preseason Top 10 team. \nMore than 14,000 fans showed up for last year’s event, and the team is expecting even more for this year’s. But the large crowd won’t scare most members of the team, junior college transfer Jamarcus Ellis included.\n“I’m not nervous,” said the junior guard. “If anything, I’m ready for tomorrow because I just want to see how loud this place gets, because everybody talks about it. I’m just waiting on it. I just want everybody to give it to me soon as I step on the court.”\nEllis is ready to show fans what the team can do.\n“I’m just looking forward to seeing the different atmosphere with my teammates,” he said. “We just want to be together to show everybody that we’re the team – we’re the team to beat this year.”\nIU coach Kelvin Sampson said he hopes his team can make it through the night without injury, so the team can conduct a standard practice on Saturday.\nSampson will host a handful of the top recruits from the 2008 and 2009 classes, according to recruiting Web site Rivals.com. \nSix 2009 players ranked in Rivals Top 100 will attend the festivities, including No. 4 overall Lance Stephenson from New York City and Lawrence North junior Stephan Van Treese, ranked 53rd nationally. New Jersey native Dexter Strickland, the No. 1 point guard in the class of 2009 according to recruiting Web site Scout.com, will also make the trip to Bloomington.\nDoors open for the event at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Assembly Hall. Members of the men’s and women’s basketball teams will sign autographs from 6 to 7 p.m. The men’s team will take the floor following an IU-Michigan State volleyball match and women’s basketball festivities. \nAdmission to Hoosier Hysteria is $5 or the donation of two canned goods, which will go to the Hoosier Hills Food Bank.