Illini madness: Just the facts

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Going into the 2006-07 basketball season, Illinois marketing guru Chris Hanna was approached with a question.

"They said, 'We don't have Dee Brown anymore – what are you going to do to draw a crowd for Midnight Madness?' " Hanna recalled.

That's when the Madness ideas started flowing. First came Bruce Weber on a Harley, along with an appearance by HBO star Jeremy Piven. Then came the Pink Out, a cancer-awareness promotion. Next was the outdoor basketball practice at Memorial Stadium. This year the event is dubbed "Spike the Record at Illini Madness," a joint operation with the volleyball team that continues the trend of unusual madness events.

"You have different schools that have different (reputations) when it comes to this," Hanna said. "Michigan State is the grand-entrance school (when Tom Izzo is introduced). We're becoming the attendance school and the interesting event school."

Here's what you should know about Illini Madness on Oct. 16:

– Gates open at 5:30 p.m. UI volleyball hosts Minnesota at 6:30 p.m. Illini Madness follows the volleyball match. If the volleyball match ends quickly, in three sets, they'll have entertainment "filler" before the basketball portion gets under way, Hanna said. If the match goes four or five sets, they'll probably scoot right into the basketball. "It will move quickly," Hanna said.

–The goal is to break the NCAA record for attendance at a volleyball match. A new record was set Sept. 13, when Nebraska hosted 13,870 for a match against UCLA. "We are very confident we'll have 16,618 (a capacity crowd at the Assembly Hall) before we start the volleyball match," Hanna said.

– About 125,000 free tickets will be distributed, Hanna said. Some of those can be found at area businesses, and another 40,000 will be in The News-Gazette on Oct. 9. As for out-of-towners that can't land a ticket before Oct. 16, "We will have a small quantity of tickets that we can hand out at the door," Hanna said.

–The format largely will remain the same as recent Madness events: a slam dunk contest, a three-point contest featuring the men's and women's teams and a brief scrimmage with the men.

Why all the brainstorming for a non-game?

To give recruits a show, of course.

"This is by far the event that we put the most time into each year. There's no question about that," Hanna said. "It is, from what I gather, the crown jewel of their recruiting efforts."

Paul Klee

AROUND THE BIG TEN
Michigan State
The Madness king - Tom Izzo - returns with his finest entrance yet. Sparty will raise its 2009 Final Four banner at Breslin Center. This comes two years after Izzo dressed as King Leonidas, right, from the film "300."

Minnesota
With their top nine players returning, the Gophers appear to be going all out with a free event dubbed Tubby's Tipoff - intrasquad scrimmage, three-point shootout, dunk contest and autographs.

Michigan
The most unique idea belongs to the Wolverines. The John Beilein Greek Shootout invites frat brothers and sorority sisters to play in a skills competition at Crisler Arena. There's an intrasquad scrimmage, too.

Indiana
Showing off for visiting recruits is the No. 1 priority at Madness events. That will be particularly true at Hoosier Hysteria on Oct. 16 - Tom Crean's rebuilding project would benefit from a fruitful evening.

No event scheduled
Penn State - Happy Valley will keep its focus on football as basketball Nittany Lions won't hold a Madness
Wisconsin - Hockey game at Kohl Center means Badgers will host a normal, closed practice Oct. 16
Ohio State - Buckeyes play North Carolina and Syracuse or California in November - but won't have a Madness
Purdue - Mackey Madness is on hold as renovations to the arena continue, according to school officials

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