More than 550 tents covered Munn Field with campers hoping to get lower bowl seating for this year’s Izzone at the annual Izzone Campout.
Students were kept busy all night with an open men’s basketball practice, free entrance into ice hockey’s season-opening win over Massachusetts, pep talks from men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo and players, and food from Subway, Insomnia Cookies and s’mores courtesy of Residence Education and Housing Services.
MSU Association of Future Alumni members handed out touch screen gloves for campers, painted a basketball court on Munn field and provided basketball hoops, along with other events and activities throughout the campout.
Live On raffled off prizes all evening, including personal coolers filled with snacks and MSU gear, basketball T-shirts, rounds of golf and candy baskets.
The 2014-15 season marks Tom Izzo’s 20th anniversary as head coach.
For the past three Izzone Campouts, the weather had been rainy and cold, but that didn’t stop fellow Spartans from having a good time.
“It was a lot of fun, especially towards the beginning and the evening,” freshman Olivia Koklanaris said. “It got really cold at the end but we pushed through it to get lower bowl.”
When Izzo and the basketball team took the stage at about 10 p.m., the rain had just hit its peak fall. Students flooded the stage, trying to take selfies with friends, Izzo and basketball players.
“It was really cool meeting new people and the team,” freshman Elena Ferman said. “Even though it was cold, it was worth it — being able to take pictures and meeting Izzo.”
After the DJ shut off early into Saturday morning, students had about four hours to catch some sleep before it was time to pack up and head out.
At 6 a.m., sirens went off all around Munn Field, waking campers. Since it was so early, students were not moving as quickly as Izzone leaders had hoped. To get them moving, Izzo drove down every row of campsites on a golf cart encouraging students to get moving.
“We don’t turn down,” Izzo said through a blow horn.
As Izzo talked about during his talk Friday night, the Izzone Campout is always a memory maker for students and gets everyone pumped for basketball season to begin.
