By Devin Smith

The college basketball season is just around the corner, and on Thursday night the Troy Trojans got the fans involved in the excitement with the Chic-Fil-A Trojan Madness event in Trojan Arena.

Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams were in attendance to give fans a taste of what they could expect this fall and to have some fun, said men’s head basketball coach Phil Cunningham.

“This is a tremendous way to kick off the season,” Cunningham said. “We’re just a couple weeks away, but to have a crowd like this is probably the most exciting thing since I’ve been here at Troy.”

The seats were packed out in Trojan Arena, which was something that really impressed Cunningham.

“I’m blown away with the student turnout, the band was incredible, and it’s been a great night.”

The fans were loud enough to rival the band at times, creating a scene that women’s coach Chanda Rigby thought was huge for both teams.

“Anytime we have the round ball in the rim up there we love it, but when you add about 1500 screaming Trojan students in here and it’s made it electric,” Rigby said.

During the event, which was free to students, food courtesy of Chic-Fil-A was served to the first 500 to enter along with raffle prizes and giveaway throughout the evening.

The players were excited as well, and the commotion only fueled the anticipation for the upcoming season.

“This is a great atmosphere,” senior Kevin Thomas said. “I hope everyone here can come back again.”

The players for both squads haven’t had much to be excited about recently as practices shift to two-a-days and workouts crank up in intensity, so a night off was much appreciated by all.

“It’s tremendous to have this event to start the year out,” Rigby said. “All we’ve been doing is practicing each day, so to be able to come out and have this much support is amazing.”