Not since Mossie Murphy.

MikeR wrote:

Most Freshman come in ready to immerse themselves in the whole college experience, the trick will be not turning them off by second semester.

They had pep rallies in the past with very very poor attendance results from students. For a few of the years I was there they even tried to do a midnight madness type thing with a scrimmage and maybe a dunk contest and no one showed up, they stopped doing it.

This is different, although I do get where your coming from in regards to orientation week and what not. They always had this type of thing. They NEVER had anything close to this level of attendance.

That's why I'm encouraged by it, I remember these events taking place in the past with nothing near this level of response.

Last edited by Duques102 (8/24/2016 8:42 am)

Econ69 wrote:

Not to be cynical but was free food and beverage part of the rally?

If not, then the pep rally was a good sign, a positive start in terms of attendance.
Now the team has to win.

 
I know for a fact the past events that were very similar offered free food, drinks, and other chachkies to students in attendance. They have been doing that on game days even since I was a freshman (all the way up to last year and I know because I still use my student id to get into the student hospitality area  (wink)).

I've seen first hand for years now these small type of incentives have no real affect on student attendance. Trust me, this type of showing is a pretty big deal. From what I've seen these newer guys do a much better job promoting the Duquesne brand on their social media accounts than guys in the past and also seem to show more pride and excitement towards being a DU student athlete. The players helped freshman move into the dorms this year and the coaching staff helped as well. I see a significant progression in the attempts to integrate the student body and the basketball program and build a relationship especially since Harper's hire. I think he gets it and it may be starting to pay dividends.

Coming from the perspective of someone two years removed from being a student and still seeing the campus from my bedroom window.

I didn't mean to come off sounding negative about this. The photo made me smile broadly. I just want be sure we latch on to this crowd and they to Duquesne for the rest of their lives.