Racer Hoopalooza is just seven days away
MBB: Today is the FINAL day to get your tickets
Ten years ago, Steve Prohm had the idea of having an annual Murray State basketball reunion. That reunion would honor members of the program’s historic past, while hopefully bringing them back to Murray to let them be celebrated by the Racer fan base. That idea turned into Racer Hoopalooza. Ten years later, Hoopalooza is still going strong.
This year’s edition of Hoopalooza is next weekend, July 28th and 29th. Friday night will be the dinner and banquet where the Scott Edgar-era Racers will be honored. On Saturday, there will be golf scramble and pick-up games for former players. TODAY is the final day to purchase tickets for both events. You can get your tickets by clicking here.
Steve Prohm and other members of the athletics department met this morning to put together the final details for what will prove to be an exciting night for everyone in attendance. I asked Prohm why this event is so special to him a decade after it started.
“Just because of the history and tradition this program has,” Prohm said. “It’s something we sell in recruiting. How many programs in the country, in Division I basketball, can hold an event like this every summer and get a great turnout? I think all the great programs connect with their former players. All the great programs have relationships with their former guys whether you coached them or not, because it’s their program. I don’t think it’s ever the head coach’s program. You’re just steering the ship at that moment. Those are the guys that paved the way for the coaches and for the players that are playing now.”
Former Murray State Head Coach Mark Gottfried was the initial honoree at the first Hoopalooza in 2013. Since then, former coaches, players and teams have been honored at the event. Prohm says the Hoopalooza weekend is as much about the fans as it is the members of the basketball program.
“Basketball has a huge identity in this community,” he said. “There’s a responsibility here to provide this for our fan base, and provide this opportunity for our former players to get back together. I think it’s been a great success. We started that trend ten years ago. I thought Mark Gottfried came in here and stole the show. I thought he was phenomenal that night. Ten years later, it’s still going.”