It is officially time to get ready for USI basketball. The men’s and women’s basketball teams held its annual Midnight Madness Oct. 13 in the Physical Activity Center.

Midnight Madness takes place on every college campus on the first official night the teams can practice. USI’s version of the madness introduced the men’s and women’s players to students and had a set list of games and contests to get the USI fans excited for the upcoming season.

The madness held several events including a three point shootout that pitted four of the best women’s shooters against four of the best men’s shooters. Each shooter had 30 seconds to make as many three point shots as they could. In the end, the women shooters got the best of the men by making 30 three point shots to the men’s 20.

 “We started off slow and lost our determination early,” said senior guard and three point contest participant Brandon Hogg. “The girls shot well and were well prepared.”

 During the middle of the madness, the Red Zone introduced the crowd to a brand new dance called the interlude that they are hoping will bring a whole new excitement to the student section. At one point during the event pandemonium ensued as the entire crowd was on the court dancing to the new song with the players and coaches.

“The dance was taught to us during RA training, and we thought it would be a great way to get fans excited for the basketball games,” Red Zone President Samantha Ray. “We are working on trying to make the games more like a Division I atmosphere. We can work it in before games or divide up the dance during time outs.”

 The final event of the night was the slam dunk competition between four of USI’s best dunkers. The participants were senior forward Romaric Lasme, red shirt freshman forward Austin Davis, sophomore forward Taylor Wischmeier and junior guard Kenyon Smith. 

 It was a close competition throughout but came down to Lasme and Smith in the final.

“I wanted to do a something basic in the first round,” Smith said. “I had a plan of what I was going to do after the second round.”

 Smith’s plan paid off after it helped him defeat Lasme to take home the slam dunk contest crown. Both Lasme and Smith are new to USI this year and are hoping to make an impact for the Eagles.

“I am trying to focus on being a team player and winning a national championship,” Smith said.