BATON ROUGE — LSU basketball fans are invited to spend the day on the LSU campus on Saturday, Jan. 31, as part of the centennial celebration of LSU men’s basketball.
The 100th anniversary game between LSU and Arkansas is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Jan. 31. Tickets for the game, starting at $14, remain on sale but LSU officials announced on Friday that only approximately 1,500 tickets remain for sale at this time for the SEC game. Tickets can be purchased online at LSUsports.net and at the LSU Athletics Ticket Office.
Fans are invited to the centennial activities that will begin at 12:30 p.m. as several former players will take part in an alumni game at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The one-hour event is free and open to the public and will also feature special interviews with players conducted by the Tiger PA announcer Dan Borne’ who will be joined by women’s PA voice Kevin Neely to describe the event for the fans.
After the event concludes at 1:30 p.m., the arena must be cleared for the LSU-Arkansas game, but there will be plenty of activities in front of the Maravich Center as Tiger One Village will be up and running. The funk/soul/R&B cover band BluePrint will rock the “Village” and Tiger Concessions will have food booths set up as well.
Many of the former basketball players will be arriving at this time and many will be mingling with the crowd between the alumni game and the LSU-Arkansas tilt. As a special presentation, the LSU Sports Radio Network will broadcast live from Tiger One Village visiting with several former Tiger stars before moving inside at 3:30 p.m. to join the full network for coverage of the LSU-Arkansas game. This 100th anniversary pregame show with Jim Hawthorne and Kevin Ford will also air on Baton Rouge affiliate New Country 100.7 FM The Tiger and in the “Geaux Zone” at LSUsports.net beginning at 3 p.m.
The gates will open for admittance for the LSU-Arkansas game at 2:30 p.m. and at halftime will be the culmination of the centennial activities, the announcement of the 15-member All-Century team as voted by the fans and a special player/historian committee whose vote each represented 50 percent of the total.
Also the first 5,000 fans entering the Maravich Center for the LSU-Arkansas game will receive commemorative centennial mini-basketballs.
“We are very excited that close to 150 former players, coaches and staff will be coming back for this event,” said Kent Lowe, LSU Senior Associate SID and co-chairman of the Centennial Committee. “This has been 18-months in the planning dating back to our first announcement of the event and the selection of the All-Decade teams in the 2007-08 season. People are returning to Baton Rouge from all over the United States and several foreign countries to be a part of this weekend and I know all our loyal long-time basketball fans will want to be a part of the events on Jan. 31.”
Basketball Centennial Celebration Events
Saturday, Jan. 31, 2009
Noon ? Doors open for Alumni Game at Pete Maravich Assembly Center
12:30 p.m. ? Alumni Game, Maravich Center, Free Admission
1:30 p.m. ? Alumni Game ends, arena cleared.
1:30 p.m. ? Events begin at Tiger One Village, Band Blue Print plays
2:30 p.m. ? Gates Open for LSU-Arkansas game
3 p.m. ? LSU Sports Radio Network broadcast begins in Tiger One Village
4 p.m. ? LSU vs. Arkansas basketball game, Maravich Center
Halftime ? Announcement of All-Century team.