Primetime at the Palace this Friday

FAYETTEVILLE – The University of Arkansas men’s and women’s basketball teams host Primetime at the Palace on Friday, Oct. 12, officially tipping off the 2012-13 basketball seasons.

The event, which is free to the public, is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. at Bud Walton Arena and will include an autograph session, short practices by both the Razorback men’s and women’s teams, performances by the Arkansas Spirit Squads and a dunk contest with celebrity judges.  Members of the both basketball squads will begin signing autographs at 8 p.m., when the doors to the arena open.  The first 1,500 fans to the arena will receive a Primetime at the Palace t-shirt courtesy of Pepsi and 5,000 fans will receive a Razorback basketball desk schedule.

UA students can also enter a contest to win $1,000.  Fans are encouraged to bring a non-perishable canned food item with donations going to the Full Circle Campus Food Pantry.  Collection bins will be located at the entrances of Bud Walton.

Tom Collen’s Razorback women will sign autographs and meet the fans until 8:30 p.m. when they will begin warm ups on the floor.  The men’s team will sign until approximately 9 p.m.

The Razorback women’s basketball team will enter from the tunnel to formal introductions complete with the video board displays.

The team will scrimmage allowing fans their first look at this year’s team.

The schedule continues with a brief intermission with a “Know Your Teammate” segment on the court followed by a pom squad dance routine.

The rest of the evening belongs to the Razorback men’s team beginning with a dunk contest and a student contest in which one lucky Arkansas student will win $1,000 courtesy of Pepsi in a Dance for Dough contest.  Students should tweet about Primetime at the Palace with the hashtag #DanceForDough, for a chance to be entered into a drawing to participate in the contest.  Only University of Arkansas students are eligible to win.

Mike Anderson’s Razorback men’s team will be introduced and are scheduled to scrimmage for about 20 minutes.

As a reminder, doors on the north, south, east and west sides of the arena will open at 8 p.m.  Fans are not permitted to bring prohibited items such as strollers and umbrellas into the facility.  For a complete list of other prohibited items, log on to ArkansasRazorbacks.com.