To kick off the Mercer Men’s and Women’s Basketball seasons, Mercer Madness was once again held in Hawkins Arena on Friday, October 17. Students were invited to attend the pre-party on the intramural courts to receive free T-shirts and pizza. After the pre-party, the Macon community was invited to Hawkins Arena to be a part of the “madness.”

Tj Hallice, a senior on the men’s team, was excited about the turnout and thinks that Mercer Madness was a great way to kick off its season.

“I think it brought an early excitement to our program and an awesome way to introduce the new players to the Mercers fans,” said Hallice.

During Mercer Madness, both new and old players were introduced to the crowd. Then, Bob Hoffman and Susie Gardner addressed fans and informed them about the upcoming seasons.

The men’s and women’s teams also competed in a dance-off, for which the fans were able to choose the winner. Although both teams brought their best dance moves to the floor, the crowd voted the women’s team as the winner of the contest.

Continuing with the contests, Mercer basketball players and a Mercer student competed in a dunk contest. There was no question about who won when Ike Nwamu leapt over his teammate to dunk the ball into the basket.

After the dunk contest, both squads held their own scrimmages to give the fans a preview of what is to come in the upcoming seasons. Hallice was impressed with their scrimmage and thinks that it was a great way to show what is to come this season.

“I think our scrimmage went really well,” said Hallice. “I wish we could’ve played longer because five minutes was not long enough to truly show how ready we are for the upcoming season.”