High hopes and revamped hoop dreams have seemed to revive student interest in University of Memphis men’s basketball, but the roaring cheers from the student section might seem a bit fainter this season.
U of M officials announced the section of The Pyramid reserved for student seating will be reduced by 392 seats for the upcoming and anticipated season.
“I can’t believe they are cutting our seats,” said Denny Miller, a student at The U of M. “We are the most visible and supporting presence in the whole place.”
But U of M officials seem to disagree.
The U of M decided to strip the student section during the offseason and have opted to offer the seats to people willing to pay for season tickets.
While the men’s team’s recently released 12th-place ranking in the Associated Press poll has seemed to spark new student interest in the once faltering program, only 2,572 free student seats will be allotted for home games.
In comparison, approximately 2,900 seats were reserved for students during the pre-Calipari era of Tiger basketball two seasons ago, when the waning basketball team posted a 15-16 record.
Last year, the Tigers posted a 21-15 record and were never ranked in any polls.
This year’s ranking has many students excited about the season, and hopeful that the team’s expected hot performance will warm the Pyramid seats as well.
“Once the team starts winning, then the student section will start to fill up,” said John Stankin, a senior majoring in engineering science.
Kevin Grothe, associate director of athletic external affairs, said the number of student seats is being decreased because no one has been sitting in them anyway.
“On average, only 800 students sit in the student section,” Grothe said. “Last season, only four games had more than 1,110 students attend the game and only the first game against Temple we had more than 2,200 students.”
However, some U of M students said past attendance figures should not matter.
“I don’t think it is very fair of The University to take away our free seats,” said U of M student Justin Bernil. “I think The University should wait until the first couple of home games and see how many show up for the games until they decide to sell the students’ seats.”
Although there is no definite reason for the lack of student attendance, according to Grothe, one main factor is that the games are not played on campus and students must travel downtown to the 20,004-seat Pyramid to watch home games.
Another reason for the lack of attendance, according to Grothe, is the number of non-traditional students.
“On campus, there are a lot of non-traditional students and sometimes work or their families prevent them from attending games,” Grothe said.
Grothe said in order to increase the number of students attending the basketball games, The University is working with student organizations such as Resident Life, the Student Activities Council and the Greek organizations to rally student support for the games.
Grothe said students can catch a ride to the Pyramid or park their cars near the Pyramid for free.
