PROVO — Nobody knows how BYU basketball will fare in its first season under coach Mark Pope.
But Pope likes to dream big and do unexpected, unconventional things. And in the early morning hours Thursday at the Marriott Center, he had his team, and a few thousand fans, practiced their championship celebration.
As it turned out, BYU’s first Midnight Madness event in years, began at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday with musical performances and the introduction of the women’s hoops team. After the men’s team was introduced at midnight, there wasn’t much basketball at all. For example, there was a pie-eating contest but no scrimmage or dunk contest or 3-point shooting contest.
“Coach Pope shut it down with the storming the floor. I wasn’t expecting that. Actually, I would expect that because he does crazy, stupid stuff like that. It was cool. It was fun.” — BYU guard Jake Toolson
But Pope had no trouble whipping the crowd of 2,237 BYU students into a late-night frenzy.
“When we get up every morning and we go to bed every night, we dream about winning the championship,” Pope told the fans. “That’s why we’re here. I want to practice that right now. I don’t exactly have permission to do this, but we’re going to do it anyway. We’re going to practice winning a championship.”
Pope then ad-libbed the play-by-play of a hypothetical game featuring his team playing against Gonzaga or Saint Mary’s for the West Coast Conference championship, with the Cougars coming from behind to capture the title.
After counting down the final seconds, the fans stormed the court and celebrated a championship, as he had instructed them to do. While the fans jumped up and down, music blared and confetti flew. All that was missing was cutting down the nets.
Nothing like beginning with an end in mind.
“Coach Pope shut it down with the storming the floor. I wasn’t expecting that,” said senior guard Jake Toolson. “Actually, I would expect that because he does crazy, stupid stuff like that. It was cool. It was fun.”
Was that the craziest thing Pope has done since BYU started official practices last month? Toolson wouldn’t say.
“He’s just a crazy person,” he said. “It doesn’t surprise us. But it’s a lot of fun. That’s what it’s all about — winning championships. That’s what we’re going to do.”
After an exhibition game against UT Tyler on Nov. 1, the Cougars tip off the regular season Nov. 5 against Cal State Fullerton at the Marriott Center.
Pope and his players enjoyed being with their fans.
“It was great for us and great for the guys. They’re kind of stuck in the dungeon right now, working like crazy,” Pope said. “So to come up for a breath of air and remember that people really care and are cheering them on is a big deal.”
“It was awesome. People showed up. It’s midnight and everyone’s tired,” Toolson said. “But it seems like everyone’s excited. We had a good time tonight. I think this will kind of propel us into the season and carry on this excitement throughout the year. It’s just cool that people care so much about this place and there’s so much support. We feel it’s our job to take care of business and we’ve got all these people that are along for the ride with us. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Pope knows something about winning a championship, of course. He accomplished that feat as a player at Kentucky in 1996.
“I do believe that you practice winning. For all us to practice that together is important because it’s really hard to do. I want my guys to feel that and I want these fans to feel that,” Pope said. “Then we have to do the yeoman’s task of actually earning that.”
Of the court-storming, he said, “It’s a nice way to wrap up the night. I always like to push the envelope and see if I can get myself in trouble. I don’t know if (athletic director) Tom (Holmoe) is going to send me a text or email saying, ‘That’s probably not a good idea.’ We’ll see. We like to ruffle some feathers around here … This crowd was unbelievable all night long for us to celebrate together. That’s what we’re trying for. We’re trying to do this together … Hopefully, it’s a precursor of great things to come.”
Senior guard TJ Haws is looking forward to opening the season.
“We’re really excited about where we’re at. We’re ready to start playing games,” he said. “Feeling this energy tonight is super fun. We’re excited to get out there and play.”
Senior forward Yoeli Childs, who will be sidelined for the first nine games of the regular season due to an NCAA suspension, liked the Midnight Madness experience.
“It was exciting. Coach Pope’s brought a lot of energy,” he said. “It was really exciting to see how many fans we have out here for a little party at midnight. It’s pretty cool.”
What are the team’s expectations for this season?
“We’re just trying to get a little bit better every day,” Childs said. “We know it’s going to lead to our ultimate goal of winning a championship, getting to the NCAA Tournament and making a run there.”