WKU Basketball: What You Need to Know This Season
It’s a cool, late October day and the smell of hoops and Halloween is thick in the air. WKU is set to take on the Campbellsville Tigers…
It’s a cool, late October day and the smell of hoops and Halloween is thick in the air. WKU is set to take on the Campbellsville Tigers this evening in the first “real” taste of what we could expect this year after a successful 27-win season last year.
There have been a lot of changes that every WKU fan should know about so I’m hoping to fill you in so you won’t miss out on any important information now that the season is finally here.
Sellouts should be the norm
Last season, WKU sold out four games which helped create an electric and enthusiastic atmosphere inside Diddle Arena during the later part of the year. But perhaps the biggest thing for this year is that WKU has sold out of season tickets before this year even began.
Even the games that WKU would barely get 4,000 people at in years past are already sold out.
This Saturday’s exhibition game against Kentucky Wesleyan is one of those games. Having a projected 7,000+ people at an exhibition game is something I’ve never seen at WKU before so that shows that the excitement and the hype around this year’s team is exceptionally real; on and off of campus.
“I’m excited for this upcoming season,” said WKU sophomore Tavias Babb.
“[I’m] looking forward to watching Charles Bassey come and help lead our team to a successful season. We had a pretty good season [last year], but if we can find the star power in someone like him who has the potential, then I can see WKU becoming a great force within the NCAA and winning the division to make it into the NCAA tournament come around March,” he added.
The students have bought into the hype of this year which should play a vital role in the atmosphere of Diddle. The students should be the most vocal, loud, and crazy fans in the entire arena so having them not only show up but become invested in the game will help make Diddle Arena one of the hardest places to play in the country.
Renovations
For those who haven’t been able to make it to either a volleyball game or any of the preseason basketball events (Hysteria and the open scrimmage) in Diddle yet will notice several things.
The most notable would be the new, high quality video boards, the new sound system, and also the court itself. The towel on the court has also shrunk and also the student section area that used to be by the court was removed and replaced by some premium courtside seating.
While some of these are just minor adjustments, several of the main gripes that WKU fans (including myself) have had in the past have been fixed for this upcoming year which should make your WKU basketball experience the best it’s been in years.
Parking situation
While all of us love having Diddle Arena filled up to the max, one of the latent effects of having many sellouts is having enough parking spots on campus for everyone. Thankfully, WKU’s parking and transportation services have been preparing and have made several significant changes.
Perhaps the biggest change is diverting the majority of parking from PS1 by Diddle to the new PS3 parking structure and the Creason lot.
PS1 will no longer offer general public parking. In the past it was usually open to the public for $10 to park there for a game but now will only be available to those who have a PS1 parking permit.
HOWEVER, it will be open to people who have a PS3/Creason lot pass but only for games on the weekend.
Before you jump to conclusions and say something along the lines of “well, PS3 is over in Egypt and takes forever to walk from there,” don’t panic: There will be a shuttle that will run two hours before tipoff from PS3/Creason to Diddle Arena and will continuously run through and at the end of the game. (ed. note — as someone who made that walk from Egypt to Diddle carrying a backpack and extra broadcasting equipment several times, it isn’t that bad. Put on a podcast and enjoy the late October air!) That will certainly help but as to whether adding this main focus on PS3 will help matters any is to be determined.
I asked WKU junior Ben Goodrum, who is a commuter to campus, if he thought having all these expected sellouts will cause additional traffic issues.
“Definitely. Parking is already ridiculous on campus, with or without an event,” Goodrum said. “A sold out basketball game is sure to bring on traffic headaches and make the search for a parking spot even more difficult.
“People don’t want to walk from such far away places. They will sneak around and fill all of the available parking,” he continued.
As a former commuter myself, I definitely don’t disagree with his comments but I do commend WKU PTS for trying to put the bulk of the crowd off the main part of campus.
Will it work? Only time will tell but most WKU students and alumni I know are very aware of just how bad parking usually is so they will either bite the bullet and just tough it out or go to their “secret spot” on campus (like myself) that is away from all the hubbub to get in and out more easily.
As we brace for what should be a special season of hoops on the Hill, don’t let all the traffic issues or mass amounts of people keep you away (that is if you can actually find a ticket) from supporting this team.
I was raised into a WKU household and was a student there for four years and I have never seen this kind of excitement (that I remember) for WKU basketball this early in the season in my 25 years of existence on this planet.
I can speak for everyone on The Towel Rack when I say that we hope to bring you the best basketball coverage this season we can so be sure to follow us on Twitter as well as like our Facebook page so you can stay up to date with all the basketball news, recaps, and everything in between this year!