October 17, 2018,  Basketball  No comments

Herd Madness Storms the Cam Henderson Center

By Michael Morgan

Herd Madness, formerly known as Rock the Rec is being held Friday in the Cam Henderson Center.

This event is free and provides spectators a first look at the men’s and women’s basketball teams as well as multiple giveaways according to Herd Zone.

The event used to be later in the evening and called Rock the Rec, due to it taking place in the Marshall Recreational Center. “We changed the event to Herd Madness just to give it a little shot in the arm,” said Marshall Associate Athletic Director Aaron Goebbel. “With it being homecoming we thought a move to Friday night would encourage better attendance from the general public, especially moving it to earlier in the evening,” Goebbel said.

The doors open at 6:00 p.m. and this offers the first opportunity for current season ticket holders to pick up their tickets, and the choose-your-seat program for new season ticket buyers in which they can pick what seats they wish to sit in for the season.

“Based on our success last year of the men’s team we felt like the event would be extremely well attended so it made sense to move back to the Henderson Center,” Goebbel said.

The giveaways include schedule posters, 1,000 free shirts to the first 1,000 fans, DP Dough, Speedway gift cards, and one lucky student getting the chance to shoot a half-court shot to win a new car.

Following the giveaways, there will be a “Shooting Stars” competition, a dunk contest, and a team scrimmage before an autograph session at the conclusion of the scrimmage.

One name that will be focused on during the dunk contest, is Taevion Kinsey from Columbus, Ohio. Kinsey posted a video on social media that was seen and reposted by the SportsCenter Twitter page with the caption, “ALL the way up #SCtop10” a few months ago. Kinsey along with other new additions to both teams will be announced and introduced to the spectators.

Perhaps the most anticipated event is a 3-point competition between Marshall players Shayna Gore and Jon Elmore. Gore was a 40 % shooter from three last season, and Elmore shot 35.6 %.

After doing a survey of over 20 random students, all but two picked Elmore to win the contest. “I think that Jon (Elmore) will definitely win but I think that Shayna (Gore) will hold her own and give him a run for his money,” said Marshall junior Megan Mcgraw. Another student voted for Gore because, “I think that Elmore may be the better overall player, but I think Gore is the better shooter, even if they do shoot from the men’s three-point line (which is further than the women’s),” said Marshall senior Bergen Jarvis.

This event is for people of all ages, and plays a big part in building anticipation for the start of the upcoming season for both the men’s and women’s team. Following the event, spectators can wait and see the men in action on Nov. 7 against Eastern Kentucky University and the women at home on Nov. 7 against Indiana State University.