Midnight Madness Weekend
October 12-15
Norfolk State University
The Norfolk State basketball program will hold its tip-off weekend from Oct. 12-14 featuring a comedy show as well as its annual Tip-Off Dinner and Spartan Madness. Comedian Michael Blackson will highlight the very first comedy show on Thursday, Oct. 12.
The fifth annual Tip-Off Dinner, featuring guest speaker Jay Williams of ESPN, will take place on Friday, Oct. 13. Then on Saturday, Oct. 14 following the NSU-Hampton football game, the basketball program will hold Spartan Madness inside Joseph Echols Hall. Blackson, who stars on VH1's Hip Hop Squares and has also been involved with HBO's Def Comedy Jam, will perform on Oct. 12 at the L. Douglas Wilder Center on the NSU campus beginning at 8 p.m. Tickets for the inaugural comedy show, in conjunction with tip-off weekend, go for $10 for students and $30 for the general public.
Williams, a college basketball analyst for ESPN and the No. 2 pick in the 2003 NBA Draft out of Duke, will highlight the program's Tip-Off Dinner at the Chesapeake Conference Center beginning at 8 p.m. on Oct. 13. Tickets for the dinner go for $75 per person and include dinner and access to raffle prizes. VIP tickets are also available, which include an early entry for photos and autographs. The VIP ticket also includes special seating. Doors open at 6 p.m. for the event for VIP ticket holders and 7 p.m. for general admission ticket holders. Deadline to purchase tickets is Oct. 11.
The Chesapeake Conference Center is located at 700 Conference Center Drive in Chesapeake. Spartan Madness will close out the tip-off weekend on Oct. 14. Action gets underway at 8 p.m. from Joseph Echols Hall following the conclusion of the Norfolk State-Hampton Battle of the Bay football game in the afternoon. Both NSU basketball teams will be introduced during Spartan Madness, and both will take part in a 3-point shooting contest. The Norfolk State men will also engage in a crowd favorite, the dunk contest. The men and women will each compete in an intrasquad scrimmage to give fans their first glimpse of the 2017-18 NSU teams. One fan will also get the chance to win $20,000 in a 3-point contest.
Tickets for Spartan Madness are $5 and can be purchased online at www.NSUSpartansTickets.com or in person at the NSU Ticket Office between 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tickets for the comedy show and the tip-off dinner are also available through the ticket office. All proceeds benefit men's basketball summer school initiatives. In addition to the Tip-Off Dinner, doors for both the comedy show and Spartan Madness open at 7 p.m.