It’s the first opportunity to show off that new move learned over the summer, the new standout teammate or even an improved jump shot.
Oregon’s men’s and women’s basketball teams will showcase their new looks tonight in front of Duck fans at McArthur Court.
Oregon women will practice from 8 to 9 p.m. before the men take the court immediately after.
Doors open at 7 p.m. for Duck students wearing wrist bands for distribution of the Pit Crew T-shirts. Bands can be picked up at 9 a.m. at the EMU. Doors will open to the general public at 7 p.m., with the first 1,000 fans receiving a “Midnight Madness” T-shirt. Admission for the event is free.
Between 7:30 and 8 p.m., fan contests will take place before the women’s basketball team begins its practice.
The men’s practice is part of a live national broadcast by ESPNU – the first time since 1997 Oregon’s Midnight Madness has been shown on one of ESPN’s channels. Kansas, Kentucky, Memphis and Michigan State will also be featured.
Commentators Rich Cellini and Bob Wenzel are hosting the practice, which will be featured for 60 minutes.
Fans have reason to be optimistic about the men’s program, with sophomore Malik Hairston leading a maturing team. Friday night also marks the debut of highly-touted transfer Ivan Johnson, a late addition from Los Angeles Southwest College in Southern California.
Johnson, who originally committed to Cincinnati and Bob Huggins, changed his mind after the embattled coach was fired in August.
A spot opened up when Oregon coach Ernie Kent’s son Jordan Kent joined the football team and transferred his scholarship.
The disappointment from underachieving last season has Oregon excited to start this season, but also more knowledgeable from having gone through it.
“We are hungry,” Hairston said Wednesday at media day. “We understand what it takes.”
With six straight home games to start the 2005-06 season, this team has an opportunity to have a strong start and erase bad memories of last season.
“Moving on with a fresh start is a great feeling,” Hairston said.
While Friday is the official day to start practices, the men’s and women’s teams have started earlier this year with a new NCAA rule. The new rule, referred to by the NCAA as a “skill development rule,” was put into place in August.
Both the men’s and women’s basketball associations pushed for the changes that led to pre-Oct. 15 team practices. Women can practice for four hours a week and the men for two.
The extra time has been a boon for the women’s team, said head coach Bev Smith. Now, when practices start they can smoothly transition into harder areas, or the meat and potatoes, as Smith put it.
“I think its really been good for them,” Smith said. “There’s some opportunity to sit back and see the whole picture.”
The incoming roster is veteran-laden, but almost always with college athletics, rosters evolve and there are new players. Oregon’s 13-women squad is an exception, with five seniors and four juniors.
It is a new season and the extra time has helped build team chemistry, Smith said.
“They know each other much better as a team,” Smith added.
In addition to building team cohesiveness, the new rules have had smaller benefits.
Senior forward Yadili Okwumabua is recovering from off-season knee surgery, and the extra time has allowed her to ease back into playing basketball again.
The rule allows this year’s lone freshman, Tamika Nurse, and future freshmen to see “how they fit in and how (they) can contribute to the team,” Smith said.
Having no Division I experience, new assistant coach Phil Brown has received a quick introduction.
Smith believes it should make for an exciting opening night. Fans will see a “couple of a new additions that will change how we play in terms of tempo and how we play the game,” Smith said.

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