Hoosier Hysteria will showcase 'The Next Generation'

“The Next Generation” is here.

If you visited the IU Athletics home page sometime this week, you would have seen an ad for Hoosier Hysteria. At the bottom of the page, there was a countdown marking the days, hours, minutes and seconds until the start of the event.

And if you waited until the very end, a picture of the men’s basketball team in a huddle would have popped up with the tag “The Next Generation.”

After last season’s 6-25 record and last-place finish in the Big Ten, this year’s Hoosiers are looking for a fresh start with the help of new players.

Fans will see that at 8:30 p.m. today during Hoosier Hysteria, the annual start of the men’s basketball season.

Bloomington native and freshman guard Jordan Hulls – like a few of his teammates – is excited to have a hometown crowd with him.

“A lot of friends and family will be there for me, since I’m from here,” Hulls said. “It’ll be a big moment for me and my family and the rest of the guys as well because it’s the start of a new season.”

Fans will also see the IU volleyball team, which begins the evening with a match against Iowa at 5:30 p.m. The men’s basketball team will sign autographs at 6:30, before the women’s team scrimmages at 7:45 p.m. Admission is free, but IU Athletics is encouraging people to bring one canned food item for the Hoosier Hills Food Bank. 

Also, people are encouraged to wear pink for the volleyball game.

For junior guard Jeremiah Rivers, Hoosier Hysteria will be his second. But unlike last year, his basketball season will continue after Friday.

“Hoosier Hysteria won’t be different,” Rivers said. “Last year, the team really made me feel like I was playing. Until that first game hit, then I realized ‘man, I’m really not playing.’”

IU coach Tom Crean said while there is plenty of excitement for the scrimmage, he is still waiting for all the fans to return who supported the team before 2008’s losing season.

“We’re not all the way back yet,” Crean said. “We don’t have all those student tickets sold. We don’t have it full throttle packed yet,” he said. “It’s got to be at a fever pitch.”