Saturday will mark the 9,163th day since Georgia State last sold out GSU Sports Arena for a men’s basketball game. None of the seniors on this season’s team were born the last time it happened.
Ron Hunter wants that stretch to end — and by sending that quartet of players out in style.
“I’ll be extremely disappointed if we don’t sell out Senior Night,” he said.
The Panthers, the regular-season champs of the Sun Belt, will honor Devonta White, Manny Atkins, Rashaad Richardson and Denny Burguillos before the game against Western Kentucky.
Georgia State (23-7, 16-1) last sold out the Arena on Feb. 4, 1989, and that was because comedian Jay Leno performed after the game. The capacity then was listed at 4,500. After some changes to the seating, it’s 3,834 today.
There have been good teams and close-to-capacity crowds since then, but no sellouts. That’s something the players said would be fun to see.
“On Senior Night, that would be crazy for me to spend my last home game,” Manny Atkins said.
If not now, when?
This will be the Panthers’ first home game since clinching the Sun Belt’s regular-season title last week. It will be the first time fans will get to publicly congratulate the team in any kind of formal setting. Conference commissioner Karl Benson will be there to present the trophy to the team.
“We would absolutely love to see a sold out Sports Arena this weekend,” athletic director Cheryl Levick said. “The players and coaches have worked so hard to win the Sun Belt championship and deserve one last salute at home. As coach Hunter said recently, we want to share this championship with our fans, alumni and students, and we expect to see many of them Saturday for the basketball doubleheader and the postgame championship celebration.”
Atkins said he has received plenty of congratulations walking around campus, so students and non-students know what the team is doing.
It also underscores how odd it is that a team that set a school record this season with 14 consecutive wins, that is one of three with four 1,000-point scorers in the starting lineup and that is favored to win the Sun Belt tournament and go to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2000-01 hasn’t sold out a home game this season.
“It would mean everything to show how great the seniors are, and appreciated,” White said. “It would be a great moment to end my college career.”
If Georgia State doesn’t win next week’s conference tournament, there’s still a chance it could host an NIT game, which would give the seniors one more home game.
But it sounds as if they want Saturday’s game to be their last at home.
“I was at Virginia Tech, and we played the NIT twice,” Atkins said. “I don’t want to see the NIT anymore. It’s a good tournament, but that’s not somewhere I want to be right now.”
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