SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Cal State Long Beach Midnight Madness
This Friday Night--(Oct. 10, 2000)

Midnight Madness will be coming once again to Long Beach State at the Pyramid this Friday night.  The University put out a short, but sweet official press release.  Here it is:

This Friday will be the kickoff to the 2000-01 basketball season at Long Beach State with "Mid"Night Madness. The doors to the Pyramid will open at 11:00pm and admission is FREE! There will be a FREE pizza, hotdogs, popcorn and soda for all in attendance. The program will include a slam dunk contest, three point shooting contest, both the men and women's teams will scrimmage and much, much more! Power 106 will be in the Pyramid giving away prizes and playing music all night.

According to the BeachHoop.com website (the unofficial LBSU basketball site), "Beach officials are expecting a record turnout for this years version of the official NCAA starting date for the 2000-01 season, which is October 14, 2000 at 12:01am. Last years midnight madness event drew over 2,000 enthusiastic Beach fans and that was on the heels of a disappointing 1998-99 campaign.  This year with the team coming off one of its most successful in the storied history of 49er hoops, the crowds should be huge and enthusiastic. Beach officials are hoping for at least 3,000 fans.

At the Midnight Madness event, both the women's and men's teams will be introduced.  The 49er men, under the direction of coach Wayne Morgan, will face one their toughest non-conference schedules in years. The home schedule is highlighted by a December 2 game against No. 2 ranked Stanford, as well as other top teams such as Air Force, Pepperdine, Texas A&M, and some easier ones against new D-I and future Big West rival UC Riverside, as well as D-II Cal State Dominguez Hills. On the road the 49ers open the season at Southern Illinois on November 17 and also will play at Utah, USC, Loyola Marymount and UC Riverside. Thanksgiving weekend the 49'er men will be in Hilo, Hawaii competing at the City Bank/Aloha Airlines Big Island Invitational, where they will play the University of San Francisco in the first game on November 24. Also in Long Beach State's half of the tournament bracket are Oregon State and Appalachain State.   The other half of the bracket features Oklahoma, Montana State, Tulane and the Hawaii-Hilo.

The men's roster this year features:

This Friday's Midnight Madness will be followed by a Men's Basketball Tip-Off Dinner two weeks later, October 29, 2000 (a Sunday night) at which the featured guest-speaker will be former Bulls and current Laker assistant coach and former Long Beach State coach Tex Winter (USC '47).  Here's the official press release for the Long Beach State Tip-Off Dinner:

Tex Winter to Speak at Tip-Off Dinner
10/5/2000

LONG BEACH, CA -- Former Long Beach State men's basketball head coach, and current Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach, Tex Winter, will speak at the 2000 LBSU Men's Basketball Tip-Off Dinner on Sunday, October 29. The dinner will take place at The Grand at Willow Street Center (4101 E. Willow, Long Beach, CA), beginning with a reception and no-host bar at 5:00 pm. The cost is $35 per person, which includes parking, hors d'oeuvres, dinner, the program and dessert.

Winter, who spent 14 years as an assistant coach with the six-time World Champion Chicago Bulls, was the 49ers head coach from 1978-83. The creator of the "Triangle Offense", Winter accumulated a career mark of 78-69 in his five seasons in charge of the 49er men's program. His 1980-81 squad went to the NIT, while his 1979-80 team went 22-12 and finished second in the league.

Reservations for the LBSU Men's Basketball Tip-Off Dinner can be made through the 49er Athletic Foundation by calling the office at (562) 985-4662. Deadline for reservations is October 23. For further information on the dinner or the Six Man Boosters, contact the Booster hotline at 9562) 985-4656.

And speaking of Tip-Off Luncheons, if you've got $250 bucks to throw around, you might want to check out the Lakers' own Tip-Off Luncheon, sponsored by the LA Area Chamber of Commerce on Friday, October 27, 2000 at the Bonaventure Hotel in downtown LA. All the Lakers players and coaches will be on hand (they'd better be, for $250) to talk about the coming season and review last season's NBA Championship. As an added bonus, something the Lakers have never offered before at their tip-off luncheons, this year you can have your picture taken with the NBA Championship Trophy. We're told that a portion of each ticket will be donated to the Lakers Youth Foundation. If you're seriously interested, and want to be $250 lighter, call 213-580-7524.

 
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