The Cameron Crazies better get ready, because this year the celebration in Krzyzewskiville is starting earlier than ever.
Duke Student Government, the Graduate and Professional Student Council, the Line Monitors and the athletics department have teamed up to present "A.M. Mayhem," an extravaganza Friday that culminates at midnight with the opening men's basketball practice of the season.
Creating a night of festivities centered around Duke basketball--and precisely, the first practice of the year, traditionally heralded as "Midnight Madness"--was the vision of Mickie Krzyzewski, wife of head coach Mike Krzyzewski. Senior Max Perkins, who works with the basketball program, approached various campus groups about getting involved.
"The idea behind the K-ville pregame party is to kick off the basketball season with energy and enthusiasm," said Elizabeth Dixon, DSG vice president of student affairs and programming chair for the Line Monitors. "We wanted to set the precedent for the future of programming in K-ville."
Undergraduate, graduate and professional students will line up together, with line monitors registering student groups beginning at 7 p.m. Last year's walk-up game policies will be in effect, meaning that groups may contain up to twelve people, 25 percent of whom must be present at all times. General seating tickets, of which 1,500 remain, are also available for sale from the Cameron Stadium box office at $6 a seat.
An evening of activities, freebies and surprises surround the practice. The occasion will kick off with a deejay sponsored by Campus Council from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. After, the Alexander Street Band will play for an hour, followed by dueling stages on opposite sides of K-ville Plaza. A deejay will compete with viewings of old Duke games, such as the 2001 championship game against Arizona, on a screen sponsored by GPSC.
"Our goal is to make hanging out and waiting in K-ville enjoyable," Dixon said. "We want students to be excited for the upcoming basketball season." Ticketholders will be allowed inside Cameron Stadium at approximately 10:30 p.m. with the doors opening to students, who must present their DukeCard, at 11 p.m.
Hardees fast-food will be grilling free food with their "Hardees Hunger Patrol" while Duke Concessions will be selling drinks on Flex and food points in K-ville. The Athletics department along with the basketball program, which is organizing the practice, also has set-up a number of surprises for the Cameron portion of A.M. Mayhem, where sponsor Coca-Cola will also participate.
"We want to show the world what Duke basketball is all about and start with a bang," Head Line Monitor Donald Wine said. "We're having [this event] once in 4 years and we don't know when we'll have it again. Everyone should come."
Perkins, Dixon and Wine all stressed that A.M. Mayhem was designed to add to an already exciting Homecoming weekend--and that students should still attend the practice and surprise even if they attend other events earlier. "This event adds to what has become a more eventful Homecoming weekend," Dixon said. "The step-show, Oktoberfest, the football game and other events--it creates a weekend experience we haven't had at Duke in a while."
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