The highly anticipated 2011-2012 Mississippi State basketball season officially began Friday night with the inaugural Maroon Madness, an event that drew crowds in excess of 4,000 fans to watch multiple sporting events throughout the course of the evening.
Fans poured into Humphrey Coliseum in hopes of getting their first impression of a men’s team that most experts say have all the right tools to make a run to the NCAA tournament this year. Rhett Hobart, Student Association President, said the event was a great opportunity for fans and students.
“(Maroon Madness) gave our students and fans an opportunity to see what we believe will be the start to a great season,” Hobart said. “It allowed everyone the chance to see many of our new players and get a quick glance of this year’s teams.”
After State’s volleyball team completed an impressive sweep of the Kentucky Wildcats, both the MSU men’s and women’s basketball teams took center stage. The basketball portion of the night began with the women’s basketball team being introduced along with head coach Sharon Fanning-Otis, who is entering her 15th season at State.
After a dance-off was completed, all attention was turned squarely to the MSU men’s basketball team. Each player was greeted by a loud applause, followed by head coach Rick Stansbury, who entered the court alongside several leaders of student groups. Stansbury then took the microphone and announced the name of the student section at The Hump, which will be in only one end of the court this season, has officially been changed from “Rick’s Rowdies” to the “The Dawg Pound.”
The name change, Hobart said, was created by a committee of students from all aspects of campus.
“The decision was made to not create a new group, but to brand the whole section so that each and every student in The Hump will be a part of it, and we can work together to create the best home-court advantage possible,” he said.
After announcing the new name for the student section, Stansbury encouraged fans to come to Humphrey Coliseum this season to support the basketball team.
“When this place is full, there’s no place better and more difficult to play in the SEC,” he said.
As he continued speaking to the crowd, Stansbury mentioned realignment within the Southeastern Conference. For the first time in the 2011-2012 season, all 12 current teams will play in just one division, eliminating the east and west divisions the conference has used for a considerable amount of time.
The head coach said although the change has taken place, the goal remains the same for the Bulldogs this season.
“It doesn’t matter how many divisions we have,” he said. “We’re going to compete for a championship.”
After the court was cleared, the time finally came to watch the men’s team. After a brief warm-up period, the team, much like the women’s team had previously done, divided into two separate squads, and another Maroon and White scrimmage was played.
In the fan’s first opportunity to see what is supposed to be an exciting group, the MSU men’s basketball team did not disappoint. There were several highlight-reel plays made over the course of the 15-minute scrimmage, including an emphatic dunk by junior forward Renardo Sidney with 21 seconds left in the game to give the White team the lead and the win, 30-29. Sidney finished the scrimmage with a team-high nine points and added four rebounds.
When asked about Sidney, Stansbury said it is way too early to gauge what Sidney and the other players are going to bring to the court this season.
“He’s got to be better than he was last year,” he said. “The real work will start tomorrow.”