Eastern’s basketball teams will kickoff their 2001-2002 campaigns Friday with a midnight practice.

“Midnight Madness” will start at 10:30 p.m. with an autograph and photo session for fans. That will be followed by a three-point shootout in which students will have the chance to win prizes.

That will be followed by a celebrity shootout which will include Eastern interim President Lou Hencken and Athletic Director Rich McDuffie. Five students will then have the chance to win free tuition for the spring semester. They’ll have one minute to make a free-throw, three-pointer and half-court shot.

At midnight, the men’s and women’s teams will be introduced and each team will play a 10-minute scrimmage. The men will perform specialty dunks for the crowd as well.

“This is the first time we’ve done this in several years,” said Dave Kidwell Eastern’s assistant athletic director for sports information and marketing. “Because of the success of last year’s team, we thought we could create some excitement and get some people out for it.”

Fans will also have the opportunity to see the new look of Lantz Arena. The gym has been renovated with the addition of new bleachers and video replay boards.

“It’s a good new look and we want to show people,” Panther head coach Rick Samuels said. “We want people to see replays on those screens and see that we’ve got some kids that can do some things.”