IU Athletics to cap student tickets to IU men's basketball games

Students clamoring for season tickets for the 2012-13 men’s basketball season have caught the attention of IU Vice President and Director of Athletics Fred Glass.

Glass announced this week that 9,400 students have placed orders for tickets and the number is expected to rise above 10,000 in the coming weeks, according to a release from IU Athletics.

“Following the team’s incredible performance this past season, I am thrilled to see student ticket demand returning to the same levels I experienced when I was a student at IU,” Glass said in the release.

“There is not a more exciting place to watch college basketball than Assembly Hall, and it is IU students that create our home court environment that is unmatched anywhere in the country.”

As a result, IU Athletics will cap the sales at 12,400 so students will receive tickets to a minimum of 10 of the 16 games during the academic year.

Glass said that while sales have increased during the past few years, IU Athletics has never had more than the allotted 7,800 student tickets per game. For the first time since 2003 ­— the season after IU’s run to the national championship game — they will sell more than that allotment, Glass said in the release.

“Indiana basketball is an important part of the IU college experience and we want as many students as possible to have a chance to experience it live in Assembly Hall,” Glass said in the release.

IU Coach Tom Crean, who was hired as IU’s head basketball coach in April 2008, said he appreciated the support from fans.

“Our student fan base is the best in the country,” Crean said in the release. “Our fans and former players have supported us from the moment we arrived and are a big reason why the program is where it is today.”

— Alex McCarthy