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Blog: Not going to Late Night? You should be.
DYLAN SHERWOOD @dmantheman2011
As Kansas football continues to struggle, the start of the season for Kansas men's and women's basketball is right around the corner. The 31st annual Late Night in the Phog, the celebratory kick-off to basketball season, will take place Friday in Allen Fieldhouse.
Attendees will be able to get a good look at the Jayhawks before their first games in November. This will give fans, new and old, a sample of what the Jayhawks will have to offer by the time the season starts. They will also get to see skits from both teams and watch them take the floor for practice scrimmages.
The men's basketball team has to be feeling good about themselves after such a productive
summer. The team participated in the World University Games in Gwangju, South Korea, and walked away with a gold medal. All the hype from this summer will return this week as Late Night approaches.
For the women's basketball team, a new era is set to begin. In March, Kansas let go of 11-year coach Bonnie Henrickson and hired former Emporia State and Stephen F. Austin coach Brandon Schneider to revamp the women's basketball program.
Schneider has landed two Division-I transfers, a junior college transfer and two new freshmen while bringing back just six players from last year's squad. As for the rest of the roster, Schneider inherits four freshman, who committed to Kansas prior to the release of Henrickson. All four incoming freshman were
McDonald's All-American Nominees in their respective states.
Kansas fans should be ready for Late Night because it's something they have been waiting for since the seasons ended last March. This could be a year where the men's team could have a special season which could include their 12th-straight Big 12 Championship. On the women's side, it's a rebuilding season. While the lady Jayhawks could possibly be a surprise team in the Big 12, it's still unsure of who will replace two 1,000-point scorers in former players Chelsea Gardner and Natalie Knight.
If fans want to get their minds off the struggles of Kansas football, go to Late Night in the Phog and get there early. Two years ago, when former Jayhawk Andrew Wiggins played at Kansas, at least 5,000 fans had to be turned away.
Last year, with the Kansas City Royals in the playoffs, it was still a capacity crowd but not filled with 16,300 people.
Consider this: if you don't have Kansas men's basketball tickets, this might be your best shot at attending anything involving the men's team at Allen Fieldhouse this upcoming season. If you have not been to Allen Fieldhouse before, go to Late Night. You will get to see what it feels like to be in "The Phog" without a game happening.
Expect Late Night to be a fun and entertaining night. Hopefully fans will be ready for what could be a fun ride for Kansas basketball coming up in the next several months.
- Edited by Dani Malakoff
Students at last year's Late Night at the Phog.
FILE PHOTO/KANSAN
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