Basketball will be in the air later this evening when both the men and women’s basketball teams hosts the second annual Trojan Madness event to kick off the 2015 season at Troy.

The event will be free to the public.

“It means basketball season is here,” said women’s basketball coach Chandra Rigby. “We have had a lot of practices and it’s just going to be a fun time in front of the students and the fans to be able to showcase what we have been working on.”

Fans in attendance will be able to witness player introductions for both programs, a three-point contest as well as dunk contest and intrasquad scrimmages with continuous music being played by both the Sound of the Sound Pep Band and from DJ Red.

The Lady Trojans are coming off a 20-win season a year ago. Players and coaches are hopeful the momentum will carry over this season.

“We had a good season,” Rigby said. “Our goal heading into this season is to be successful in post season play. We have been hungry all summer and all preseason.”

With the success of last year, both coaches are excited for a growing fan base. Trojan Madness helps introduce a new audience to both basketball teams.

“We have built a fan base within the Troy community,” Rigby said. “The student crowd hasn’t been what we wanted it to be. This event is geared to the students, even though we would love all fans to come. We are trying to cater to the students and say ‘hey look how fun it is at Trojan arena.’”

The fans are not the only ones getting something out of this event this evening. The players themselves get a lot out of it themselves through interaction with the fans.

“We hope the players are able to connect with the fans,” Rigby said. “The players have been busy all week passing out flyers in their classes and asking teachers to let them announce Trojan Madness. It’s not all about showcasing for the fans it’s also about connecting with the potential student fans.”

The first 500 fans in attendance will get a free Chic-Fil-A sandwhich and all students will be entered into a drawing to win a $250 Addidas gift certificate, a book scholarship and a chance to take a half court shot for an Apple iPad.

Both the men and women’s programs will host an exhibition game on November 5. The women will host Stillman at 5 p.m. with the men hosting Auburn University-Montgomery at 7:30 p.m.

The women open the regular season on November 13 against West Alabama while the men travel to play South Florida on November 13.