New-look Hoosiers debut at Midnight Madness
Assembly Hall sounded like a New York City street on New Year's Eve Friday night. When the countdown clock hit two minutes before the official start of the IU basketball season, it was like Dick Clark and his ball were at center court. With the more than 10,000 fans filling both sides of the stadium, the basketball-crazy students, faculty and public went wild at the first sight of their NCAA runner-up men's team and the Big Ten tournament champions women's team at the 2002 Midnight Madness. "We kept peeking out, looking up and seeing how many people were here," freshman guard Bracey Wright said. "Then they darkened the lights, and everybody started screaming. When they called my name, I ran out, and the place went wild. It was great." One-by-one, each member of both the men's and women's squad got their place under that single spotlight. Following the introductions, the competitions that mark the first "practice" kicked off.