Tonight at the Chiles Center, students came out to hear more about the men’s basketball team and the student section it hopes to build. The night started as head coach Terry Porter took center stage and addressed the excited crowd of around 70 people.
“We want our student body to take us to the next level,” Porter exclaimed.
The hour long event primarily served as hype for the upcoming season. Aside from the decision of an introductory song for the team, which they had the crowd vote on, the team made no new announcements about the year to come.
Porter noted that he wants to create a “hostile” environment for opposing teams coming into Pilot country, hoping this will elevate the play of the team as they feed off the energy in the building.
Coach Terry Porter and the men's basketball team held a special event Monday, Nov. 6 to get students excited for the upcoming season.
Following Porter, a good amount of the team introduced themselves and showed their chemistry by having some laughs along the way, connecting with the fans.
Porter next displayed a video depicting the craziness of student sections from schools around the nation, such as “The Havocs” of Grand Canyon University and “The Den” of UCLA. The video showed what the basketball team and athletic department are trying to build here at University of Portland.
Assistant coach Bob Cantu then took the floor as he talked more about what the goal is. Cantu explained that the team and athletic department has been working alongside a group called “The Nautics”, a student run group dedicated to revamping the student section at University of Portland.
“We want to build and support a student section… lets start some traditions,” Cantu expressed to the students in attendance.
Some ideas brought forth include theme nights, giveaways, fat heads and even balloons for the student section, all ideas that seemed to ignite excitement and chatter throughout the audience.
Cantu went on to explain that they are looking for five to 10 student leaders that can help lead chants and induce real excitement in the crowd. This was all followed by one of the most important pieces of the night: the team entrance song.
The two finalists came down to “Turn Down For What” by DJ Snake and Lil Jon versus “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC. The winner was chosen based off crowd reaction, and the obvious winner appeared to be “Thunderstruck”.
Between free pizza, the raffle off of multiple prizes, including Jay-Z tickets, and the introduction of new ideas for this upcoming season the night seemed to be a success. The Pilots look to be on their way to becoming a crazy and hectic student section that strikes fear into the hearts of any and all opposing teams.
