Midnight Madness at Syracuse will take place Oct. 22 at the Carrier Dome, SU Athletics announced in a statement Tuesday. It will be the second year in a row the university will hold the event in the Dome. Doors will open to the public at 7 p.m., with the festivities beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are required, but are free of charge and will be available to the public Wednesday at the Carrier Dome Box Office, the Schine Box Office and participating AmeriCU Credit Union branches throughout the area.

The event marks the fourth consecutive Midnight Madness held at Syracuse after a period of more than a decade — from 1995 to 2006 — without the event.

Though the first game of the season is still weeks away, the event will be the official unveiling of the 2010-11 basketball season. Both the men’s and women’s teams will be introduced to SU fans, and each team will participate in a scrimmage and other events.

In addition, the night will begin with a performance by Grammy Award-winning hip-hop group Naughty by Nature.

Midnight Madness has become a popular event for fans around the country wanting to catch an early glimpse of their favorite college basketball squads.

For the men’s team, Kris Joseph, Brandon Triche, Rick Jackson and Scoop Jardine, among others, return from a group that went 30-5 and made it to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16. They’ll be joined by a highly touted recruiting class as SU attempts to make up for the losses of Wes Johnson, Andy Rautins and Arinze Onuaku.

Erica Morrow leads the women’s team back from a 25-11 campaign, hoping to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007-08. Several returning starters and a highly touted recruiting class will join her after the graduation of Nicole Michael, the leading scorer in program history.

The Orange men kick off the season with a home exhibition against Kutztown on Nov. 2, and the SU women get started Nov. 12 at home against Northeastern.

aljohn@syr.edu

Published on October 11, 2010 at 12:00 pm