Mountaineers enjoy Madness
By Steve Behr

sports@wataugademocrat.com

Appalachian State women’s basketball coach Adrienne Shuler thanked those who attended Mountaineer Madness at the Holmes Center Thursday night for their support. Men’s basketball coach Houston Fancher took a different route to garner support.

Both coaches pleaded their cases to get the crowd, mostly made up of students, to attend upcoming 2007-08 basketball games. Fancher decided that the traditional route of getting fans to his games needed to change.

“We lost to Elon at home last year. That was your fault,” Fancher said tongue in cheek — sort of.

“We needed you here and not all of you were here, and I know who you are,” Fancher said as friends pointed to each other in the stands, placing blame.

“I’ve heard excuses for not coming. I have to study, I didn’t know there was a game that night, I couldn’t get there. Well, there are no more excuses. We need you here,” Fancher said to the roar of the crowd.

The Mountaineers open their season Monday night at Charlotte. They’ll play four more games on the road until they host Southern Conference rival Davidson on Nov. 26. Three days later, they’ll face Wichita State.

The Mountaineers entertained the crowd Thursday by going through two seven minute scrimmages that were followed by a slam dunk contest won by Jeremy Clayton.

Donte Minter added a lighter moment to the contest as an unofficial judge, giving no dunk, no matter how good it was, a score of five or better.

“It was a great environment,” Minter said. “I’m happy that a lot of people came out to see us.”

Clayton and teammate Kellen Brand whipped the crowd into a frenzy a different way. When Clayton was introduced, he jumped on the scorer’s table in front of the fans, pumping his fists trying to raise some enthusiasm. Brand joined him at the table, to the delight of those in attendance, and started doing the same.

“Kellen Brand came out of nowhere, and he’s a big, strong guy,” Clayton said. “I thought we were going to fall, for real.”

“That’s my role, to bring the energy,” Brand said. “I’ll practice it now so I’m ready for the games.”

The women’s team, which opens its season Tuesday at N.C. State, was the first to be introduced to the crowd. They scrimmaged for five minutes, but had to make it a halfcourt workout because of injuries to players.

Before the men’s team was introduced, members of the crowd played a wild musical chairs game that required them to get different items from others in the crowd before they could return to their chairs. The winner received a bicycle for his effort.

Two dance teams, the band and the cheerleaders also performed at the event.