Midnight Madness at Syracuse University

ABC News On Campus reporter Matt Gelb blogs: The dunk contest at Syracuse University’s Midnight Madness celebration at Manley Field House on Friday night didn’t go as planned, ending with more misses than spectacular slams. But  junior forward Paul Harris wanted to send everyone home happy. He grabbed the microphone and gave the starved crowd exactly what it wanted. “I’m gonna need a couple volunteers for this one,” Harris said into the mic. Immediately, the fans awoke. Harris picked three kids from the crowd and lined them up inside the free-throw lane. He dashed from midcourt, leaped  over the kids, and slammed the ball. It was the highlight of a night celebrating the beginning of the college basketball season at Syracuse. The men’s and women’s teams participated in scrimmages, a  three-point contest, the dunk contest and also a dance competition. Like many schools around the country, Midnight Madness is designed to get the fans involved. Syracuse’s party was no exception. When the players from the men’s and women’s teams were introduced, they came from out of the stands, high-fiving fans. There were plenty of giveaways and a chance to get autographs from the players afterward. Perhaps the most fan interaction  –  literally  –  came during the dance competition. Sophomore guard Jonny Flynn started dancing to “Soulja Boy” and quickly made his way to an older woman sitting in the front row. The woman wasn’t shy about Flynn’s advances. As the two danced,  the crowd erupted in laughter. Flynn was the runaway winner  of  the contest. Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim was introduced with Olympic theme music and dressed in his formal Olympic attire. Boeheim was an assistant coach on the U.S. Olympic basketball team that won gold in Beijing, but assistants do not receive actual gold medals. So before the festivities on Friday night began, Syracuse’s mascot, Otto the Orange, presented Boeheim with a large, gold medal made of cardboard. The event was emceed by former  Syracuse  basketball star Leo Rautins, and featured video messages from Carmelo Anthony, Steve Nash and Bill Raftery. The fans likely left disappointed, though. Highlights from last year’s event included center Arinze Onuaku breaking a backboard on a slam dunk and Boeheim donning a referee’s uniform for the scrimmages. But Midnight Madness means college basketball games in Syracuse are near, and that’s enough to make fans here plenty happy.