Rhody Madness gets fans hyped for basketball season

The University of Rhode Island hosted its annual Rhody Madness basketball tip-off event last night at the Ryan Center.

The Ramettes and cheerleaders kicked it off, performing to Grammy-award winning rapper Kanye West’s hit song “All of the Lights” just after 8 p.m. They performed to a number of other songs as well.

The women’s basketball team was introduced to “Remember the Name” by Fort Minor. Rhode Island Assistant Coach Marcus Reilly addressed the crowd and talked about the expectations of the team for the upcoming season. head coach Daynia La-Force couldn’t make the event after a flight delay.

“Our program is trending upwards so quickly that we’re excited about almost everything,” said Riley. When he said, “there are two championship programs being built at URI in Kingston,” he received a tremendous ovation from the crowd.

After the women’s basketball players were introduced, they danced to rapper Drake’s hit song “Hotline Bling” and rapper Rich Homie Quan’s song “Flex”.

The video board at the Ryan Center introduced the basketball team next and showed highlights of the men’s basketball team from the 2014 season that sent the crowd to their feet. The team was introduced to Kanye West’s “Power” and the new addition of players also received a large reaction from the crowd.

Both basketball teams participated in basketball shooting contests individually and in groups of two. The contests included 3-point, foul-shooting and shot-clock shooting that was timed with 30 seconds each. The men’s team succumbed to the women’s team in the majority of the shooting contests.

URI students were excited from the beginning. The Ramettes entered the basketball courts and stayed on their feet with laughter, fun and excitement for the duration of the event. Senior Mio McClain was particularly excited to see the performance of the rap duo and the beginning of the new season for the men’s basketball team.

“I came to see Rae Sremmurd and I’m a room advisor for half of the men’s basketball team,” he said. “I’m close with Kuran Iverson.” Iverson, a 6-foot-9 junior transfer from the University of Memphis is the younger cousin of NBA star Allen Iverson.

The men’s team squared off against the women’s team and they had a very entertaining competition. Both teams split into two teams and also participated in a dance contest.

The crowd erupted when rap duo Rae Sremmurd, featuring Swae Lee and Slim Jimmy entered the court to perform a medley of hit songs. Rae Sremmurd sat on the sidelines during the basketball contest, then decided to participate in the contest to the crowd’s excitement.

Rae Sremmurd danced to their hit song “Hit the Quan” that sent the crowd into a bevy of dance moves. Rae Sremmurd also performed hits “No Flex Zone” and “This Could be Us” that made the crowd dance. The finale performance was the club hit “No Type”.