University of Tennessee Athletics
UT Hoops Hosts Big Orange Madness
October 24, 2014 | Men's Basketball
Oct. 24, 2014
By Brian Rice
UTSports.com
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee fans had Big Orange Madness for a couple of freshmen on Friday night as the Vols and Lady Vols hosted a preseason hoops event at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Fans began to pile in the arena as soon as the doors flew open at 6:00 p.m., ready for a night of fun and for a first look at the 2014 Tennessee basketball teams. After a quick warmup, the two teams were introduced to the crowd, complete with individual walk-out songs.
"It's like Coach Warlick and Coach Tyndall said, we have the best fans in college basketball and they showed that tonight," Assistant Athletics Director for Sales and Marketing Jimmy Delaney said. "While it's football time in Tennessee, basketball season starts in a few weeks. It was great to see Vol Nation have a lot of fun and give away some great prizes. It was a great, fun night."
When it was time for competition to begin, it was a pair of freshmen that brought the crowd to their feet.
The first event of the night was a three-point shootout that pitted two teams made up of a mix of men's and women's players. The team representing the east side of the arena won, behind a perfect 5-for-5 performance from Lady Vol freshman sharpshooter Alexa Middleton.
"That was fun," Middleton said afterward. "Once you get in a groove and you knock them down, the crowd's cheering and you have the boy's team and the girl's team behind you cheering you on. I wanted to come out and have fun and make the fans excited and I felt like I did that."
Middleton continued her hot streak in the Lady Vol scrimmage that followed. In her first team action in front of the crowd, Middleton made back-to-back plays, nailing a three from the wing and scoring on a breakaway drive to the hoop.
"It was really exciting with the fans here, everyone excited for the upcoming season," she said. "This was the first event we were all together for as a team, so it was a really fun night."
The men's team took to the floor next for an intrasquad scrimmage that featured plenty of flashy plays and little defense, leading Tennessee head coach Donnie Tyndall to quip about the team's lack of stops in his comments to the crowd. He assured fans that there would be a tighter lock on the ball when the Vols open exhibition play on Nov. 3.
Next was the dunk contest. Fans cheered as five Vols duked it out with their best throwdowns, while Lady Vol Cierra Burdick led her teammates in scoring the competition. Freshman Jabari McGhee emerged from the competition the winner with a solid slam, though he was not sure that the dunk was his most elaborate work.
"I give that dunk about a 7 or an 8," McGhee said. "I've been doing that dunk since 9th grade, that's why it looked so easy."
The fan support for the event provided an exciting welcome to college for the freshmen on both teams as their prepare for exhibition openers less than two weeks away.
"It was great to see the fans come out and support us," McGhee said. "We know they have our back every day so we go out and give our all for Tennessee every single day."
