Fans wanting to see the LSU men’s basketball team’s latest slam dunks and Lady Tigers’ latest perimeter shooting will have to wait until the regular season.
The typical Fan Fest, which brings both teams together to show off their latest tricks, will not be held this year because of scheduling conflicts. The fan exhibition was typically held the Friday night closest to Oct. 15 in conjunction with the NCAA rule that allowed the teams to first practice on the court.
But the University’s fall break holiday fell on the same Friday.
“The coaching staffs didn’t want to have that event without the students being in session,” said Guy Gaster, director of marketing and promotions for the LSU Athletic Department. “It’s been tough to try to work out a different date between the two coaching staffs.”
Fan Fest, including the dunk competition and team events, had been held for the past three years. The 2006 Fan Fest drew about 5,000 fans to the PMAC. Before the typical format was established, Gaster said the teams in past years would sometimes hold open scrimmages for the fans.
Junior center Chris Johnson won the Fan Fest dunk contest for the past two years.
“It’s kind of bad for the fans that we’re not having it and especially for the kids that wanted to see us dunk,” he said. “But it’s OK because I had kind of run out of dunks to do.”
Johnson said if Fan Fest returns next year, he will watch the NBA All-Star slam dunk competition to get more ideas.
Gaster said each team will have more festive activities at their opening exhibition games to compensate for the lack of a typical Fan Fest. The women’s first game is Oct. 31, while the men’s team opens exhibition play the next night.
“Since the women’s exhibition falls on Halloween, we’re going to have a Halloween carnival-type of atmosphere along the concourse with prizes and candy,” he said.
Gaster said fans can likely expect discounts on concessions and open autograph sessions following the exhibition games.
—Contact Amy Brittain at [email protected]