ATTACK APATHY

[Cactus Panther]

If we could count on 2,500 students, put them on the east sidelines! That would look great to people watching on TV and then maybe they come too. Why hide a phenomenon like that behind the north end zone? All of the displaced regulars could easily be upgraded to the other side.

[PantherU]

Mar 22, 2022 15:56:38 GMT -6 Cactus Panther said:

If we could count on 2,500 students, put them on the east sidelines! That would look great to people watching on TV and then maybe they come too. Why hide a phenomenon like that behind the north end zone? All of the displaced regulars could easily be upgraded to the other side.

We can't count on it until we do it a lot. But when it's full, that student section is intimidating. That's definitely an idea to keep in our back pocket for down the road - but even Duke has had trouble filling the sidelines sometimes.

[kman24]

Perhaps some kind of "Student Section Leadership Council" that students can sign up to join during orientation or other events during the first week of school. They could partner with the athletic department to plan theme nights, promos, giveaways, etc. On game days they could be out at the Union and dorms drumming up interest and then have the front rows reserved for them at the arena.

[PantherU]

Mar 22, 2022 16:42:58 GMT -6 kman24 said:

Perhaps some kind of "Student Section Leadership Council" that students can sign up to join during orientation or other events during the first week of school. They could partner with the athletic department to plan theme nights, promos, giveaways, etc. On game days they could be out at the Union and dorms drumming up interest and then have the front rows reserved for them at the arena.

The athletic department has tried something like this in recent years but I don't know if they've done it in the first couple weeks.

[ghostofdylan]

Lundy's Loonies at The Jungle? Wow!!!

[Cactus Panther]

Mar 22, 2022 16:13:22 GMT -6 PantherU said:

Mar 22, 2022 15:56:38 GMT -6 Cactus Panther said:

If we could count on 2,500 students, put them on the east sidelines! That would look great to people watching on TV and then maybe they come too. Why hide a phenomenon like that behind the north end zone? All of the displaced regulars could easily be upgraded to the other side.

We can't count on it until we do it a lot. 

Totally agree. That's why I would suggest starting with the center court section on the side not typically shown on TV, the west side, starting from the bottom rows up until the sections get much bigger. Maybe start with filling just the first ten rows of the center court section, then the first ten rows of the section across from the Panther's bench, etc. Treat the students like they are the show by doing this and other things to jumpstart interest. There is no reason to wait. It costs nothing. It can be done starting this upcoming season. Renewing season ticket holders previously on the west side can then be relocated on the east side. Immediately, it would look like nearly double the attendance on most east-side TV shots. 

[uwmpanther]

Mar 21, 2022 22:58:11 GMT -6 skrapheap said:

Mar 20, 2022 21:34:31 GMT -6 chipanthers45 said:

Get Mone to care and see the importance of the program or get a chancellor who does. That to me is the biggest hurdle. 

I have no idea whether or not Chancellor Mone is a sports fan. I don't think he has the luxury of paying as much attention to the success of the men's basketball program as the denizens of this board appear to prefer. I believe that his attention the entire time he has been Chancellor has largely been directed at UWM's survival in an environment when the legislature has repeatedly and massively cut UWM's budget while freezing tuition and cutting back on state support. Under those conditions his focus is understandable and correct. If you want to replace him with a sports fan, you'd better make sure his successor is capable of leading in the current environment along with boosting sports.

Thanks skrapheap. Too many people on here with a myopic view as to the priorities of the university.

[PantherU]

Mar 22, 2022 20:19:20 GMT -6 uwmpanther said:

Mar 21, 2022 22:58:11 GMT -6 skrapheap said:

I have no idea whether or not Chancellor Mone is a sports fan. I don't think he has the luxury of paying as much attention to the success of the men's basketball program as the denizens of this board appear to prefer. I believe that his attention the entire time he has been Chancellor has largely been directed at UWM's survival in an environment when the legislature has repeatedly and massively cut UWM's budget while freezing tuition and cutting back on state support. Under those conditions his focus is understandable and correct. If you want to replace him with a sports fan, you'd better make sure his successor is capable of leading in the current environment along with boosting sports.

Thanks skrapheap. Too many people on here with a myopic view as to the priorities of the university.

Some facts:

- Enrollment went from 24,000 to 32,000 in the years of 2005-2008.
- Applications climbed considerably. In the same time period, UWM went from a 92% selectivity rate to 65%.
- This means that their selectivity rate dropped 27% while enrollment jumped ~8,000.
- In this time the only big "change" to the university was the opening of Riverview Hall in 2008 (488 beds).

Applications rise, student enrollment rises, student engagement rises and student retention rises when the men's basketball program is successful and brings notoriety to the university. This is true of Milwaukee and every other program that has been successful, especially mid-majors. Just consider what happened at Butler after their two Final Fours. People can roll their eyes about comparing us to Butler but a lot of us were in the crowd when we beat the ever-loving crap out of them behind Kaylon Williams' triple-double. We can do this.

Graham Honaker and Jerry Logan wrote a book I highly recommend called the "Cinderella Strategy" that dug into how Butler and Gonzaga were able to use March success to bring massive sustained benefits to the universities over time.

If you don't think the success of the men's basketball program should be a priority for the chancellor, it might be because you're only seeing basketball as a sports fan.

Basketball is marketing. Basketball is the front door to the university, basketball helps shape the identity of the university. I can't think of anything non-academic that would help the identity of an urban doctoral research university more.

I reject this notion that the chancellor cannot spend time working to make the basketball program better while also keeping the university afloat. Indeed, a successful basketball program would make his job in other areas more central to the university's mission easier.

We're not missing the forest for the trees. What we want - a basketball program with sustained success - will help everything else. The rising tide raises all ships.

[skrapheap]

Enrollment peaked at 32,000, and the drop is not explained by the failure of the basketball program to keep winning.

The University did not have the infrastructure in place to support 32,000 students. That huge increase in enrollment was not preceded or accompanied by a proportional increase in support staff or services. No sooner did the headcount numbers increase than there began to be outcry from the neighborhoods surrounding the campus for a cap on enrollment. Homeowners in the area complained about issues like parking and how the influx of students were behaving (e.g . noise and trash complaints from parties).

I doubt when UWM was created that anyone expected enrollments would reach 15,000, let alone upwards of 30,000, or they wouldn't have decided to leave the campus where it is.
Acquisitions like the Columbia Hospital properties were reactions to such issues, after the fact, rather than planned actions to ease an anticipated increase in enrollment. Those issues continue to complicate the university's ability to expand its physical plant.

The budget cuts didn't help matters any.

The demographics changed as well. The number of college-aged persons decreased significantly at the same time as competition for those prospective students increased.

Could a successful athletics program have helped the university? No one doubts it. Could it have helped with the issues described above? I don't think it would have smoothed over all the issues, or even a good part of them. The folks down the street won't care less about not being able to park outside their homes because the basketball team wins the league on a regular basis.

[Deleted]

Interesting, I did not know that (is it possible the drop was "designed/planned" in reaction to the neighborhood?).

Why is the disparity between our drop and Madison's growth so gigantic though? Madison campus (on-campus housing) is pretty much at its limit, no?





Well, regardless I hope the neighbors have a ton of crap to complain about, but Panther hoops success can smooth most all of it over in the coming years. And the campus can grow.

[PantherU]

Mar 23, 2022 7:05:28 GMT -6 skrapheap said:

Enrollment peaked at 32,000, and the drop is not explained by the failure of the basketball program to keep winning.

I never said it was. The size of the drop is due mostly to the size of the college age population. The rise from 2005-08, however, was due in large part to basketball, and with our student enrollment lower than it has been in decades it is absolutely crucial we get as many of them in as we can.

Mar 23, 2022 7:05:28 GMT -6 skrapheap said:

The University did not have the infrastructure in place to support 32,000 students. That huge increase in enrollment was not preceded or accompanied by a proportional increase in support staff or services. No sooner did the headcount numbers increase than there began to be outcry from the neighborhoods surrounding the campus for a cap on enrollment. Homeowners in the area complained about issues like parking and how the influx of students were behaving (e.g . noise and trash complaints from parties).

If we get back to 24k undergrads, roughly a 6k increase from where we are now, that's manageable with our current support staff and services, yes?

As far as the outcry from the neighborhoods, I couldn't care less. Oh sure, I want to make sure noise and trash is addressed as best it can be, but almost every one of these people moved to campus when it had more than 20,000 students.

You ever read any of J. Martin Klotsche's books? The people complained about the size of the university in the 1960's. At least then many of the people who owned the homes bought them before UWM grew to its 20k+ size. The people now have no excuse.

Mar 23, 2022 7:05:28 GMT -6 skrapheap said:

I doubt when UWM was created that anyone expected enrollments would reach 15,000, let alone upwards of 30,000, or they wouldn't have decided to leave the campus where it is.
Acquisitions like the Columbia Hospital properties were reactions to such issues, after the fact, rather than planned actions to ease an anticipated increase in enrollment. Those issues continue to complicate the university's ability to expand its physical plant.

Klotsche did. Read his books. He mentions it a couple times in "UWM: An Urban University", but he goes into more detail in "Confessions of an Educator." The fact that they saw the number of babies being born after World War II was one of the driving reasons behind the state being willing to create UWM in the first place; they knew that Madison couldn't handle all of them and the state needed to expand higher education.

Mar 23, 2022 7:05:28 GMT -6 skrapheap said:

The budget cuts didn't help matters any.

No they did not. We need to do everything we can to increase how much money we're getting from student enrollment without increasing tuition, which means we need more students.

- We need to increase applications, so we need more prospective students to A) know we exist and B) want to go here.
- We need to increase enrollment, so we need those students who apply and are accepted to choose to go here.
- We need to increase engagement, so students who are here enjoy their time and share memory of their positive experiences with people they know (and raise their kids to be possible Panthers)
- We need to increase retention, so we don't lose students and their tuition money that we desperately need.

A successful basketball program helps all of that. We've got the practice facility being built, which will give Coach Lundy an advantage that Bo, Pearl, Jeter and everyone else didn't have. And we have Coach Lundy, who is a proven winner. Those are great things. But we need to do what we can as a university to support Coach Lundy moving forward.

Here's the good news: this doesn't mean we need to move money from other parts of the university into athletics. A lot of the cost is already there. Increases we would need are in basketball ops and coaching staff salary. Say Coach Lundy is successful. We need to do what we can to try and retain him. Same goes for assistants if the program is successful. It's up to the university to decide what the cost would be and what the benchmarks would be to try to retain, but I'm less concerned with the financial boost because I think we can get it done with what we're spending right now.

When I talk about university support, I'm mostly not talking about spending more money on basketball. I'm talking about the chancellor being willing to have conversations with donors. One of our biggest donors who left in 2016 had told me Mone would often have no idea there had been a game the night before. Now that guy was one of the biggest donors for the academics as well as the athletics at UWM. I'm not saying Mone has to know how many points per game we're getting out of our backup center, but he should at the very least know the score of the game and the general direction of the team if someone brings it up to him.

He can also direct the schools to use basketball as a tool for their own fundraising, and foster more communication with athletics so the schools can see how they can help themselves by helping basketball. These are things that happened in Madison after Donna Shalala brought in Pat Richter.

Mar 23, 2022 7:05:28 GMT -6 skrapheap said:

The demographics changed as well. The number of college-aged persons decreased significantly at the same time as competition for those prospective students increased.

So we need to take advantage of every positive thing we have going on at the university to try and get more of those prospective students. When it comes to visibility, basketball gives you a national audience every March if you're good enough.

Mar 23, 2022 7:05:28 GMT -6 skrapheap said:

Could a successful athletics program have helped the university? No one doubts it. Could it have helped with the issues described above? I don't think it would have smoothed over all the issues, or even a good part of them. The folks down the street won't care less about not being able to park outside their homes because the basketball team wins the league on a regular basis.

I couldn't care less about the folks down the street. Their property values are higher than they'd be if the university wasn't there. They chose to buy homes next to a major public university. Their concerns about trash and noise aren't without merit, but if they're expecting everyone to treat the neighborhood like the inside of a library then their expectations are ridiculous.

Here's an idea off the top of my head that would help foster some goodwill: have the basketball team lead a fall and spring cleanup of the neighborhood. Three to four hours of work picking up trash, any general students that join in get their official student section t-shirts after the cleanup. We know Gruber will still foot the bill for the official t-shirts.

When people bring up UW drastically improving their university after the success of their football and later basketball program, they will bring up that Donna Shalala brought in Pat Richter, he got Barry Alvarez and that was that. It was a whole lot more involved than winning at relevant revenue sports. Branding actually got tightened up by Vince Sweeney in athletics - you know how you go all over Madison and there's a bunch of knockoff Bucky logos all over the businesses? He was the one who pushed for and got the Bucky logo and the Motion W. That rebranding sold a lot more Badger gear, and without posting it I know every one of us can picture the "official" Bucky Badger logo.

What I'm looking for from Chancellor Mone isn't for him to start approving bigger budgets for athletics. I'm looking for him to set a tone that athletics is important for the health of the university and if utilized properly can benefit every corner of campus. Like it or not, it's part of his job.

Mar 23, 2022 10:21:23 GMT -6 @victorpanther said:

Interesting, I did not know that (is it possible the drop was "designed/planned" in reaction to the neighborhood?).

Why is the disparity between our drop and Madison's growth so gigantic though? Madison campus (on-campus housing) is pretty much at its limit, no?

View Attachment

Well, regardless I hope the neighbors have a ton of crap to complain about, but Panther hoops success can smooth most all of it over in the coming years. And the campus can grow.

UWM's selectivity rate is 97%. This wasn't a planned drop. It's simply because of what Skrap said, it's the changing demographics. The millennial generation is something like 5-10 million more than Gen Z, and the student loan crisis didn't really get kicked off until a bunch of millennials were already graduated and gone, so the realization of just how bad it was hadn't set in between 2005-2010.

The reason Madison is growing and Milwaukee is shrinking is simple: we're not attractive enough to the college age crowd. That's a generalization to be sure, but no matter what the real reasons, the fact is the college-age population finds us less attractive.

Meanwhile if you look at similar schools to us, the change isn't as drastic. VCU has maintained enrollment at 31-32k despite the massive drop in college-age population. They're looking at a 2% drop this year, which isn't nothing but isn't...you know...almost half the enrollment.

[jmartin]

I recommend developing a strong sense of equity and investment among the students in the men’s basketball program as well as creating communal experiences to enhance student engagement and increase student attendance to basketball games. Furthermore, I advocate fostering the ideal of "the basketball program is for the students, by the students.”


Here are my recommendations of events to enhance student engagement and increase student attendance for the basketball program. Please note that these recommendations are not solely my ideas, but a composite of ideas that I recommend.

      • Incorporate the basketball program into the New Student Orientation
                • Speech by the head coach of men’s basketball
                           • Convey the importance and value of student support for the basketball program
                • Appearance by current players from the basketball program
                           • Opportunity for the new students to interact with current players from the basketball program
                • University Pep Band
                           • Teach the incoming students the university fight song

      • Establish a “Welcome Back Block Party” for all students sponsored by the basketball program
                • On campus during a Friday afternoon in September
                • Free pizza for students in attendance
                • Lawn games and carnival games
                • Raffle giveaways for students
                • Speech by the head coach of men’s basketball
                • Appearance by current players of the basketball program
                • Performance by the university pep band

      • Reinstitute Midnight (Panther) Madness for the basketball program and designate it for students only
                • Location of the Klotsche Center
                • Students only are admitted
                • Incorporate students into the festivities
                • Slam Dunk Contest
                • 3 Point Contest
                • Basketball Drills
                • Interaction with the university pep band

      • Organize a “Thank You for Your Support Block Party” for all students sponsored by the basketball program
                • On campus during a Friday afternoon in April
                • Free pizza for students in attendance
                • Lawn games and carnival games
                • Raffle Giveaways for students
                • Speech by the Head Coach of Men’s Basketball
                • Appearance by current players from the basketball program
                • Performance by the university pep band


Here are my recommendations of marketing strategies to enhance student engagement and increase student attendance for basketball program. Apologies in advance if any of these ideas are currently in use.

      • Implement required student section tickets
                • Charge a nominal price for student section season tickets and individual game student section tickets
                           • By charging a price for student tickets, it’ll instill a sense of equity and investment among the students in                                  the men's basketball program

      • Install an official student section shirt
                • Student season ticket holders get a complimentary student section shirt
                • The student section shirt is encouraged to be worn to all home games except for themed games

      • Create themed student section games
                • Organize multiple themed student section home games throughout a season
                           • The entire student section is encouraged to dress based on a theme to a designated home game
                • Here are examples of prospective themes:
                           • Beach Wear / Tropical Wear
                           • Costume
                           • 70’s Disco
                           • 80’s Retro
                           • Formal Attire

      • Connect with students by an email marketing campaign set to promote the basketball program
                • Promote student season tickets
                • Promote themed student section games
                • Promote upcoming home games
                • Promote basketball program features

      • Partner with university housing to promote the basketball program and upcoming home basketball games
                • Send a variety of promotional materials for the basketball program to each RA (Resident Assistant) for distribution                     to students residing in dorms as well as displaying in the communal spaces of each dorm
                • Here are examples of marketing materials for university housing:
                           • A variety of posters and magnets with the basketball season schedule
                           • Notebooks and Calendars promoting the basketball program
                           • Stickers, pens, and cups promoting the basketball program
                • Work with RAs to create signs to promote upcoming home basketball games
                           • Signs made by RAs could be displayed in communal spaces and hallways in the dorms promoting                                              upcoming home basketball games

[Cactus Panther]

Thanks for the input jmartin. It is OK if you used some of my ideas. I  take that as a compliment.😁

If we are going to be serious about emphasizing that the basketball program is for the students, by the students, let's treat them accordingly. Why go through all that effort and then when they show up for the games, stick them off to the side in the cheap seats behind a baseline? As I stated previously, relocate them to the lowest rows of the west side at midcourt and then across from the bench. Leave plenty of room behind them to to expand if necessary. Give them every opportunity to be part of the show. Show them that it is different this time - the basketball program truly values them. It makes a statement to the students like nothing else I can think of. 

It is disingenuous to tell the students they are the lifeblood of the program and then stick them off to the side because that is the way it has always been done. It costs nothing to relocate if done right.

[Cactus Panther]

Mar 27, 2022 17:32:20 GMT -6 jmartin said:

I recommend developing a strong sense of equity and investment among the students in the men’s basketball program as well as creating communal experiences to enhance student engagement and increase student attendance to basketball games. Furthermore, I advocate fostering the ideal of "the basketball program is for the students, by the students.”


Here are my recommendations of events to enhance student engagement and increase student attendance for the basketball program. Please note that these recommendations are not solely my ideas, but a composite of ideas that I recommend.

      • Incorporate the basketball program into the New Student Orientation
                • Speech by the head coach of men’s basketball
                           • Convey the importance and value of student support for the basketball program
                • Appearance by current players from the basketball program
                           • Opportunity for the new students to interact with current players from the basketball program
                • University Pep Band
                           • Teach the incoming students the university fight song

      • Establish a “Welcome Back Block Party” for all students sponsored by the basketball program
                • On campus during a Friday afternoon in September
                • Free pizza for students in attendance
                • Lawn games and carnival games
                • Raffle giveaways for students
                • Speech by the head coach of men’s basketball
                • Appearance by current players of the basketball program
                • Performance by the university pep band

      • Reinstitute Midnight (Panther) Madness for the basketball program and designate it for students only
                • Location of the Klotsche Center
                • Students only are admitted
                • Incorporate students into the festivities
                • Slam Dunk Contest
                • 3 Point Contest
                • Basketball Drills
                • Interaction with the university pep band

      • Organize a “Thank You for Your Support Block Party” for all students sponsored by the basketball program
                • On campus during a Friday afternoon in April
                • Free pizza for students in attendance
                • Lawn games and carnival games
                • Raffle Giveaways for students
                • Speech by the Head Coach of Men’s Basketball
                • Appearance by current players from the basketball program
                • Performance by the university pep band


Here are my recommendations of marketing strategies to enhance student engagement and increase student attendance for basketball program. Apologies in advance if any of these ideas are currently in use.

      • Implement required student section tickets
                • Charge a nominal price for student section season tickets and individual game student section tickets
                           • By charging a price for student tickets, it’ll instill a sense of equity and investment among the students in                                  the men's basketball program

      • Install an official student section shirt
                • Student season ticket holders get a complimentary student section shirt
                • The student section shirt is encouraged to be worn to all home games except for themed games

      • Create themed student section games
                • Organize multiple themed student section home games throughout a season
                           • The entire student section is encouraged to dress based on a theme to a designated home game
                • Here are examples of prospective themes:
                           • Beach Wear / Tropical Wear
                           • Costume
                           • 70’s Disco
                           • 80’s Retro
                           • Formal Attire

      • Connect with students by an email marketing campaign set to promote the basketball program
                • Promote student season tickets
                • Promote themed student section games
                • Promote upcoming home games
                • Promote basketball program features

      • Partner with university housing to promote the basketball program and upcoming home basketball games
                • Send a variety of promotional materials for the basketball program to each RA (Resident Assistant) for distribution                     to students residing in dorms as well as displaying in the communal spaces of each dorm
                • Here are examples of marketing materials for university housing:
                           • A variety of posters and magnets with the basketball season schedule
                           • Notebooks and Calendars promoting the basketball program
                           • Stickers, pens, and cups promoting the basketball program
                • Work with RAs to create signs to promote upcoming home basketball games
                           • Signs made by RAs could be displayed in communal spaces and hallways in the dorms promoting                                              upcoming home basketball games

I think a lot of this has been tried, hasn't it? The recommendations are good and should be pursued/continued, hopefully with more follow through than in the past.

At the core, instead of the top-down approach which has had mixed results, I think what is more likely to succeed is a bottom-up organic approach. Start with a solid core of 120 or so students (enough to fill about 10 rows of the west center court section) and work from there. These would be zany diehard kids more interested in the attention they receive than the basketball they are witnessing. It should be a party more than a basketball game for them. Of course, they would need to turn their attention to the basketball at the appropriate times, which would helped along by paid student section leaders. When the Panthers win some close home games, Bart Lundy, Scott Warras, etc. could talk them up by saying something like they are instrumental in the Panthers' home court success. If it succeeds like I think it could, they would get attention in various local media and social media. Let it grow from there.

[jmartin]

Mar 28, 2022 13:56:18 GMT -6 Cactus Panther said:

Mar 27, 2022 17:32:20 GMT -6 jmartin said:

I recommend developing a strong sense of equity and investment among the students in the men’s basketball program as well as creating communal experiences to enhance student engagement and increase student attendance to basketball games. Furthermore, I advocate fostering the ideal of "the basketball program is for the students, by the students.”


Here are my recommendations of events to enhance student engagement and increase student attendance for the basketball program. Please note that these recommendations are not solely my ideas, but a composite of ideas that I recommend.

      • Incorporate the basketball program into the New Student Orientation
                • Speech by the head coach of men’s basketball
                           • Convey the importance and value of student support for the basketball program
                • Appearance by current players from the basketball program
                           • Opportunity for the new students to interact with current players from the basketball program
                • University Pep Band
                           • Teach the incoming students the university fight song

      • Establish a “Welcome Back Block Party” for all students sponsored by the basketball program
                • On campus during a Friday afternoon in September
                • Free pizza for students in attendance
                • Lawn games and carnival games
                • Raffle giveaways for students
                • Speech by the head coach of men’s basketball
                • Appearance by current players of the basketball program
                • Performance by the university pep band

      • Reinstitute Midnight (Panther) Madness for the basketball program and designate it for students only
                • Location of the Klotsche Center
                • Students only are admitted
                • Incorporate students into the festivities
                • Slam Dunk Contest
                • 3 Point Contest
                • Basketball Drills
                • Interaction with the university pep band

      • Organize a “Thank You for Your Support Block Party” for all students sponsored by the basketball program
                • On campus during a Friday afternoon in April
                • Free pizza for students in attendance
                • Lawn games and carnival games
                • Raffle Giveaways for students
                • Speech by the Head Coach of Men’s Basketball
                • Appearance by current players from the basketball program
                • Performance by the university pep band


Here are my recommendations of marketing strategies to enhance student engagement and increase student attendance for basketball program. Apologies in advance if any of these ideas are currently in use.

      • Implement required student section tickets
                • Charge a nominal price for student section season tickets and individual game student section tickets
                           • By charging a price for student tickets, it’ll instill a sense of equity and investment among the students in                                  the men's basketball program

      • Install an official student section shirt
                • Student season ticket holders get a complimentary student section shirt
                • The student section shirt is encouraged to be worn to all home games except for themed games

      • Create themed student section games
                • Organize multiple themed student section home games throughout a season
                           • The entire student section is encouraged to dress based on a theme to a designated home game
                • Here are examples of prospective themes:
                           • Beach Wear / Tropical Wear
                           • Costume
                           • 70’s Disco
                           • 80’s Retro
                           • Formal Attire

      • Connect with students by an email marketing campaign set to promote the basketball program
                • Promote student season tickets
                • Promote themed student section games
                • Promote upcoming home games
                • Promote basketball program features

      • Partner with university housing to promote the basketball program and upcoming home basketball games
                • Send a variety of promotional materials for the basketball program to each RA (Resident Assistant) for distribution                     to students residing in dorms as well as displaying in the communal spaces of each dorm
                • Here are examples of marketing materials for university housing:
                           • A variety of posters and magnets with the basketball season schedule
                           • Notebooks and Calendars promoting the basketball program
                           • Stickers, pens, and cups promoting the basketball program
                • Work with RAs to create signs to promote upcoming home basketball games
                           • Signs made by RAs could be displayed in communal spaces and hallways in the dorms promoting                                              upcoming home basketball games

I think a lot of this has been tried, hasn't it? The recommendations are good and should be pursued/continued, hopefully with more follow through than in the past.

At the core, instead of the top-down approach which has had mixed results, I think what is more likely to succeed is a bottom-up organic approach. Start with a solid core of 120 or so students (enough to fill about 10 rows of the west center court section) and work from there. These would be zany diehard kids more interested in the attention they receive than the basketball they are witnessing. It should be a party more than a basketball game for them. Of course, they would need to turn their attention to the basketball at the appropriate times, which would helped along by paid student section leaders. When the Panthers win some close home games, Bart Lundy, Scott Warras, etc. could talk them up by saying something like they are instrumental in the Panthers' home court success. If it succeeds like I think it could, they would get attention in various local media and social media. Let it grow from there.

I think both approaches should be pursued and I agree that creating a strong sense of equity and pride among the students for the basketball program is essential.

I think moving students to the baseline is an interesting idea.