During First Take, Penn serves up breakfast and a show

On Wednesday, students will be able to enjoy their meals at Penn Pavilion with a side of sports entertainment.

Penn will be used as a set for ESPN's First Take Wednesday morning before the men's basketball team takes on the University of North Carolina at home that evening. The show—featuring sports journalists Cari Champion, Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless—will broadcast live from 10 a.m. to noon, with an audience of students. Penn will remain open throughout the day and will not make any changes to its operations, apart from shifting tables to make space for filming, said Director of Dining Services Robert Coffey.

"Penn will operate on its normal schedule but will be offering some additional themed tailgate menu offerings for breakfast and lunch that day, just like we do for football home games," Coffey wrote in an email Sunday.

Doors will open to students at 8:30 a.m. and taping will begin at 9 a.m. A number of guests will participate in the program, including former Duke player and current basketball analyst Jay Bilas. Cheerleaders, the Blue Devil mascot and the pep band will also be present for the show.

The University approached Duke Dining about finding a space for the show that would allow for student participation, Coffey said. Penn was designed to serve as open space for special events and will fill that role after West Union renovations are completed, when it is no longer needed for dining space.

Though Penn's tables will need to be rearranged to accommodate First Take, no seating space will be lost, Coffey said. Operational hours will remain from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

"This will be a great event, and it's nice that Duke Dining is able to host the event in an area on campus that is so accessible to the student body," Coffey wrote.

Before coming to Duke, the First Take crew will spend some time down Tobacco Road at UNC. Tuesday morning, the show will broadcast from Chapel Hill's Frank Porter Graham Student Union to an audience of 450 students.