The building was rocking. The student section was standing and cheering loudly. Ed Cooley was raising his arms to keep the volume up. The players were feeding off the crowd’s energy. While this might sound like a Saturday night game in February at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center this was the scene at last Friday’s Late Night Madness inside Mullaney Gymnasium.

The atmosphere was electric and no disrespect to Jalen Rose, who was outstanding, but Ed Cooley was the master of ceremonies. Cooley manages to command the room even when the room is a 20,000 square foot gym. Dressing in all white for his entrance to the Madness event, Cooley got the crowd pumped up and had the recruits smiling and laughing the entire time he was on the microphone. One thing that Cooley stressed to the students in attendance was that they need to carry this enthusiasm and noise to the Dunk. I’m sure there were a lot of students there for the experience of Madness and the post-Madness concert with Big Sean but at least getting them in the door is important.

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