Oct. 6, 1999
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The countdown for the 1999-2000 Notre Dame men’s basketball season begins on Friday, Oct. 15, at the Joyce Center with “Friday Night Live.” The event begins at 10:00 p.m. EST and will culminate at the stroke of midnight Oct. 16 – the first day teams can practice under NCAA regulations – when first year head coach Matt Doherty and the Irish take the floor for their first workout.
The event, which is free and open to the public, also will feature ABC and ESPN color commentator Dick Vitale and fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger as special guests.
The doors of the Joyce Center will open at 9:30 p.m. and the first 1,000 fans to enter will receive a free t-shirt. In addition, there will be give-aways the entire night.
The evening will start with the semifinals and finals of a basketball tournament between the men’s residence halls on campus. Preliminary games in that event will be held earlier in the week. The finals of a three-point field goal shooting contest between the women’s residence halls on campus also will be featured.
At 11:05 p.m., Doherty and the rest of the Irish coaching staff will challenge the winning women’s residence hall to a three-point contest and then the staff will play the winning men’s residence hall in a five-on-five contest.
Doherty will address the Joyce Center crowd at 11:45 p.m., and following team introductions, the first practice will begin at midnight with a 20 minute scrimmage. Following the scrimmage, Vitale and Hilfiger will conduct a raffle drawing for all Notre Dame students in attendance.