It started with a few men looking to play a game of pickup basketball after a long day of work. While most on the UT campus spend late night hours cramming for tests or unwinding at the ever popular Cass Bar, these men, known as the “Midnight Hoops Club”, take their talents to the courts every Tuesday around midnight. The group aims to keep games interesting, switching teams whenever necessary and playing a wide array of matchups until the late hours of the night, sometimes as late as 3 a.m. The nights always stay exciting, with different people showing up on any given night as well as the occasional drunk Cass Bar attendee who stumbles onto the court thinking they’re the second coming of Michael Jordan. In many ways, it’s the perfect situation. The courts are empty, the swelling Florida heat is a non-factor and no one has to worry about cutting their time short in fear of missing a class.
“We’ve created our very own basketball community, with new people joining almost every session,” said freshman nursing major Austin MacFarland. “It’s fun, friendly, and flexible for everyone.”
Each week, a core group of select guys get together to play. However, the group always looks to add whoever wants to join in. Every week, the game changes; sometimes it’s minor variations, such as different teams, while other times, it can be a rather large change, such as playing a mini tournament, which has happened the past couple of times the “Club” got together with some other late night McNiff “ballers”. Yet despite the changes, the goal is always the same: play your hardest and win.
The choice of such a late start time is actually the best choice for the entire group. Each member has a lot on their plates, and nights are usually the best time for all of them to get together. Sometimes they start at 10 p.m. (usually the earliest start time), but most of the time it’s after 11 and closer to midnight when play really starts to heat up. Hence the “Midnight Hoops Club”.
“It’s like playing basketball during the day, but at midnight,” states sophomore Michael Rapoport simply.
Of course, like all events, the best is saved for last. Every night, after most of the “Club” heads back to their dorms, four players remain on the court for what had been dubbed the “Editors vs Futures” game. The game involves four Minaret staffers: Sports Editor John Hilsenroth Jr. and Assistant Editor Miles Parks, as well as the two guys whose names adorn the byline above. It’s always a competitive game, but the editors are still showing the futures a thing or two on the court.
“These young bloods don’t play basketball the right way,” said Hilsenroth after a textbook pick and roll. “This game has always been, and will always be about buckets.”