COLUMBIA, Mo. — A day that started with 5:45 a.m. practice ended with a tradition Dennis Gates hopes becomes an annual event for Mizzou basketball. Gates and his newly constructed team, along with Robin Pingeton and her women’s basketball program, hosted Mizzou Madness on the middle of MU’s campus Friday night, a first-of-its-kind outdoors spectacle on the Francis Quadrangle, where a few thousand fans gathered to get their first peek at the Tigers.
The event, planned for months by athletics director Desiree Reed-Francois and her team, took place on a court constructed on the Quad’s lawn just north of The Columns and featured a 3-point contest, a dance contest, a laser show and a children’s dunk contest – judged by Mizzou legend Norm Stewart.