What are five things that will happen (at Illinois) before now and next season?
1. Early ticket sales – Where’d the students go? Student season tickets during the 2008-09 season were down 1,500 from the previous season. To combat the slippery trend, ticket manager Jason Heggemeyer said the ticket office and marketing departments are brainstorming on a plan to offer student tickets for next season as early as late April. That would jump-start season ticket sales, which were down 13 percent last season. This season’s 24-win performance and the buzz around a four-player recruiting class probably won’t hurt, either. 2. Midnight Madness preparations – When Bruce Weber and the UI marketing department combine ideas for the season-opening event, strange (and excellent) things happen. Two years ago, they hosted a “Pink Out” at the Assembly Hall, where the sales of pink T-shirts raised about $53,000 for Coaches vs. Cancer. Last year, the Illini brought an orange basketball court into Memorial Stadium, where about 16 prospective recruits observed the unusual experience on a
