Terps launch hoops season with Maryland Madness

"This is my 20th year. It's been a great 20 years personally for me," he told the crowd. "But the only thing that matters is this season. Our pledge to you is to come out every night and play as hard as we can, representing the University of Maryland and the student body."

• At Kansas, fans cheered the unveiling of the 2008 national championship banner, then began getting to know the new-look Jayhawks during the 24th annual Late Night in the Phog.

"Last year was one of the most storied years in all of Kansas basketball," sixth-year head coach Bill Self told the 16,300 fans who filled Allen Fieldhouse. "Obviously, it ended on the highest of notes by us winning it all in San Antonio."

Acknowledging the departure of eight players after last season, Self noted that the 2008-09 roster features seven newcomers -- five freshmen and two junior college transfers. The banner unveiled in the south end of the fieldhouse is temporary. The permanent version will be raised Nov. 18, when the Jayhawks play Florida Gulf Coast.

• At Indiana, it was meet-the-new Hoosiers night.

"It's an honor, it's a privilege to give our team to you tonight," first-year coach Tom Crean said. "It's been an interesting last 6½ months, and we've been looking forward to this day for a long time without knowing whether it would come. But here it is!"

After enduring months of a major housecleaning project, questions and uncertainty, most of the Hoosiers made their home-court debut in front of about 8,000 fans.

• At Memphis, an estimated 14,000 fans at the FedExForum were on hand to welcome the program that lost to Kansas in the championship game.

"It was crazy," freshman Wesley Witherspoon said after his first public practice for the Tigers. "I knew it was going to be a lot of people, but I had no idea."

The celebration was highlighted by a video of the run to the title game and the hoisting of a banner acknowledging the accomplishment. Chris Douglas-Roberts, that team's leading scorer and a member of the New Jersey Nets, returned to help with the honors.

• At Oklahoma State, first-year coach Travis Ford had the Cowboys going full speed minutes into a brief scrimmage. The team made a grand entrance straight out of Hollywood with each player stepping out of a limousine onto an orange carpet before Ford pulled up in the bright orange sports car.

• At Kansas State, Michael Beasley, who led the Wildcats to the NCAA tournament in his one and only season there, participated in the ceremonies. Dressed in his Miami Heat uniform, Beasley appeared on the JumboTron in Bramlage Coliseum where about 5,000 fans showed up for "Madness in Manhattan." He drew laughs and cheers as he attempted to lead a "K-S-U, Wildcats" chant.

• At Michigan State, coach Tom Izzo made his usual attention-grabbing entrance, always a secret with the theme of the event. He entered in a green Volkswagen bus, wearing hippie garb, a reference to the 30th anniversary of the Spartans' national championship with Magic Johnson.