You can smell it in the air. Basketball season is almost upon us.

And the men’s and women’s 1988-89 basketball teams will get together Friday, Oct. 14 for the first time this season for “Midnight Madness,” a sneak preview of the upcoming season.

Saturday, Oct. 15 marks the official NCAA basketball starting date, and no team is allowed to formally practice before that date.

So, at precisely midnight, the Huskies will celebrate the long awaited event by hitting the hardwood for an evening of fun and games. Namely hoops.

“It’s merely an effort to get our people out in front of (the fans) and get people thinking about basketball a little bit,” said men’s head coach Jim Rosborough.

Other schools have turned the NCAA-imposed starting date into a yearly party that helps get the fans involved and the team excited for the season.

Rosborough and women’s head coach Jane Albright hope to do the same here at NIU.

“If we have a good turnout, I think it’s something that may just stay on as a tradition,” Rosborough said.

Albright said she is excited at the prospect of sharing an integral part of the season with Huskie basketball fans.

“October 15 is a significant date,” Albright said. “It’s going to be a ceremonial type of thing—like pomp and circumstance.”

The evening will start at 9:05 p.m. with a showing of the movie “Hoosiers” starring Gene Hackman.

At 11 p.m., the Huskie Men’s and Women’s Basketball Alumni team will play a game against the Media All-Stars.

When the appointed starting time finally arrives, the women’s team will take the floor for a 20-minute intra-squad scrimmage.

Junior guard Lisa Foss will not participate because of the knee injury she suffered last March, but head coach Jane Albright expects Foss to start the season in her usual starting spot.

After the women’s scrimmage is over, the men will take center stage for what should be the highlight of the evening.

An all-out, no-holds-barred slam dunk contest featuring this year’s Huskie slammers will get the men’s team warmed up for their intra-squad scrimmage.

“We’re going to come out and have the ‘Air Show’ and just let our kids dunk to their heart’s delight,” Rosborough said.

All fans showing up in sleepwear or carrying their favorite pillows or teddy bears will receive a prize.