On Thursday evening, Auburn University's men's and women’s basketball teams hosted the first-ever Tipoff at Toomer's, an event meant to set the stage for the upcoming season.
Hundreds of students and fans flocked to Toomer's Corner to see the basketball court in the middle of the street.
Catrina Cook is the mother of Auburn guard Preston Cook. Preston Cook had scholarship opportunities from other schools, but decided to walk on at Auburn, she said.
He really enjoyed his first season, and after the way it ended, he felt he definitely made the right decision, Catrina Cook said. She said she is very proud of her son and looks forward to the upcoming season.
“Just the premise of having a basketball game in the middle of Toomer's Corner was the coolest thing,” said Kathrine Holliman, senior at Auburn University.
Another Auburn senior, Avery Gibens, said it was something that would not happen anywhere else and that she just had to see.
Auburn student Christian Wolf said he was excited to see Austin Wiley because he was from Wolf's hometown of Hoover and thought he was going to make a big impact this season.
Tony Lusk, who attended Auburn in the early 1960s, said he thinks Auburn will look better and better as they progress through the year because the team has a lot of young players. Lusk said he was amazed that season tickets were on a waiting list and that Pearl is responsible for turning the program around. Lusk recalled when he was a student that they used to play basketball in an old barn — now the team is selling out an area.
“I love Auburn," Lusk remarked. "Always have.”
Traffic was blocked off all day for the event, and festivities began at 4 p.m. Games like giant cornhole and pick-up basketball kept those who showed up early entertained. Local restaurants also set up large tables to feed the fans who showed up.
Head football coach Gus Malzahn made an appearance at 6 p.m. for an interview about the upcoming game against Arkansas.
Men's basketball head coach Bruce Pearl arrived to talk about his team. As soon as he made his arrival, the energy intensified as the growing crowd chanted “Bruce.”
At one point in the interview, Pearl got the crowd to the sing the unofficial theme song of the 2018-2019 Auburn basketball March Madness run, “We've Got Jared.”
At 7:00 the women’s and men’s basketball team made their arrival. After a few different friendly skills-based competitions, the event concluded with a dunk contest. The players’ performances were judged by the women’s basketball head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy, Mayor Ron Anders and Aubie the Tiger.
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