Sonoma State’s Men’s and Women’s basketball teams jump out with a big rally for Midnite Madness the night of Oct. 26. The night was planned to celebrate the start of the basketball season. Lots of parents, students and other athletes gathered for the opener that was planned by the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. The night consisted of entertaining games, dancing and basketball competitions such as 3-point contests and dunk contests. 

SAAC President Keara Colombo wanted to carry on the tradition of Midnite Madness this year along with many other events she had planned for the Sonoma community. She led by simply explaining what the tradition is and the purpose behind it. 

“Midnite Madness is a pep rally to kick off basketball season and recognize our sports teams. It’s a chance for the student body to come together to meet our teams, watch performances, and get hyped for basketball season! We had a great turnout at the event and our teams had a blast interacting with the campus community.”

Colombo put in many dedicated hours in planning Midnite Madness for the Sonoma State athletes and students. She was confident that this event would bring the community closer and it was also a great start for athletes going into the basketball season. There were other activities that included the athletes such as performing with the dance team. Some of the athletes at the end even included various tricks such as cartwheels, round offs, backflips, and the splits to end the song. The audience was cheering loud and was excited for the performance and the tricks they did.

In an interview with the STAR Colombo explains “Planning Midnite Madness took a lot of time. So many SSU clubs/groups were involved in the event. Our athletes practiced with the Sapphires dance team for a special performance. We filmed clips for the promotion video and met with faculty in numerous departments. As SAAC President I enjoyed putting in the hours to plan this event. I wanted this for our student athletes. They deserve to be recognized and I want to bring back the Madness tradition.” 

The start of the night involved tabling with pizza for students, free gear, and props for the event. One of the events that was particularly fun to watch was the 3-point contest. As the Men’s and Women’s basketball teams set up, the countdown began and they competed in a close match. The crowd was screaming and cheering as the scores were very tight and both teams were hitting their 3-pointers making it exciting for their peers. 

SAAC leaders Colombo and Vice President Brooklyn Jackson led the way of the night as they introduced their next competition, the dunk contest. A few members from the men’s basketball team competed against a couple fraternity members. There were many ups and downs of the coaches ratings when it came to the best dunks, but ultimately Jaylen Wells won the contest and a huge prize for first place. 

After Midnite Madness, there were many people who were pumped about how well it went and excited after seeing the skills and entertainment from both the Men’s and Women’s basketball teams. A lot of students showed up to support while showing their Sonoma pride as people had celebratory items like thunder sticks, noisemakers, glow products, cheer sticks, waterless tattoos and more.