One of the most popular student events is Mercer Madness that was held on Oct. 22 from 10 p.m. – 1 a.m. in the University Center Intramural Courts. This annual event serves as the official kick-off for the men’s and women’s basketball seasons. The celebration always includes an array of exciting events.
This year, unlike the past couple of years, featured a more engaging and party-like atmosphere. One significant difference was the draw of the intramural dodgeball tournament as well as jousting and basketball inflatables commonly featured at other popular events throughout the year. In addition, there was free food, giveaways, music and a three pointer competition between two players from each of the men’s and women’s teams as well as Mercer students.
The pep band and cheerleaders ushered in the new basketball season with loud and spirited cheers. This was quickly followed by the Mercer basketball teams introducing themselves and inviting the student body to come out, have fun and cheer on the teams as they begin their season.
After Mercer Madness, Jakob Gollon, forward for the men’s basketball team, said, “It was really awesome to see so many people come out to the kickoff event like that.”
Freshman Caris Bozeman said that she “loved Mercer Madness. It got me excited for the season and it was so much fun.”
Speaking of getting students pumped about basketball, Gollon offered, “Sometimes the fans don’t realize how big of an impact on the momentum of the game that the crowd can have.”
“It’s almost like having a sixth player on the court. The Mercer fan base has been awesome the last few years and the amount of people at Mercer Madness was a great indicator of how supportive our students are of the team.”
Gollon said, “We realize that Mercer is very supportive of us, and we’re going to go out every night and play our tails off to put on a good show for all the faithful fans out there.”
Just as a reminder, Gollon adds that the conference tournament is back at Mercer this year and “it would be awesome to make the most of our home court advantage.”
Come out to support the Bears in their first games of the season.
There is a double header on Thursday, Nov. 4 starting off with the women’s game at 5 p.m., and the men’s game immediately following at 7:30 p.m.
Mercer Madness kicks off basketball season
