An annual tradition in October on the University's campus, MAACness will hit Alumni Gymnasium on Friday, October 13 at 7:30 p.m. when the Rider community gets its first look at the 2023-24 men's and women's basketball teams.

Each year, the Department of Athletics and the Office of Campus Life co-sponsor the event which has loads of great music, live entertainment, giveaways, and spirit-filled activities. This year's theme, MAACness "Friday the 13^th", a play on the horror movie featuring Jason Voorhees, will showcase some of the iconic music, scenes and pop culture from that motion picture genre.

The program will be student oriented again as contests and prizes will highlight the evening.  While performances by the cheer and dance teams, a highlight video of the basketball teams and a first look at the men's and women's players will still be part of the program, "Basketball Musical Chairs" and the "Big Shoes to Fill Contest" frequently seen at games during the season, will add a boost to the schedule of events as students will vie for prizes like assorted gift cards and Rider apparel.

Back for the third year, the men's and women's basketball teams will compete in a skills-challenge similar to what is often seen during the NBA All-Star week festivities. Four women's players and four men's players will have to dribble around cones, chest pass the ball 15-feet into a hoop, dribble to the opposite end of the court and make a layup followed by a three-point shot after dribbling to the other end of the court to see who can complete it the quickest.  A men's team winner and a women's team winner will be determined and then those two individuals will compete against one another for the overall skills-challenge title. This year we'll crown a new overall winner as the two-time defending champion from women's basketball Raphaela Toussaint, has moved on.

Additionally, members of Rider's Cranberry Court, who will be vying for the Cranberry Crown over the next several weeks, will be introduced to the campus community for the first time.
In the late 1990s, following Rider's move to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, or MAAC, the event was initially dubbed "Midnight MAACness" as it actually got underway at midnight because of NCAA regulations regarding when basketball teams could hold their first practice of the season.  Since then, the NCAA rules pertaining to basketball practices have changed thus removing the start time restrictions that annually affected this event so the word "midnight" was dropped and it's now known as just MAACness.  With a distinct yearly theme - some former ones have been titled "MAACness - Friday Night Fever, Return of the MAACness, MAACness is Coming, MAACness – The Bronc Awakens, Marvel MAACness – Avengers Assemble, Caesar's MAACness, MAACness – Bronc the Vote, MAACness – Catching Fire and MAACness - Broncs to the Boardwalk" - the event has always been a highly anticipated event on the Lawrenceville campus.

"We've always tried to set elaborate themes each year and we like for them correspond with something that is taking place in society whether it's a big movie that's been released, a specific date, an election or a popular genre of historical or cultural events and the students have really responded to it," said Karin Torchia, senior associate director of athletics and senior woman administrator, who is co-directing the event with Nick Barbati, Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs.   "The date this year lends itself to feature a horror theme and it always seems to be a favorite for those who attend."

"MAACness is the perfect way to kick off the basketball season," said Rider Head Men's Basketball Coach Kevin Baggett. "The whole campus comes alive and that makes our student-athletes feel special. The support we receive from the campus community is terrific and we really appreciate it."

"MAACness is an event that brings the entire campus together," said Head Women's Basketball Coach Lynn Milligan. "The energy, support and excitement that encompass the night is electric. Our team and entire program look forward to the night and are thankful for the time and effort that everyone puts into the success of MAACness."
 
The event is for Rider University students and invited guests of the Department of Athletics only and is not open to the general public. Rider students wishing to attend must show their Rider ID to enter the event on Friday night.    Doors to Alumni Gym will open at 7:30 p.m. and the program will start at 7:45 p.m.

For those not able to attend in person, MAACness will be live-streamed via BroncVision on gobroncs.com beginning at 7:45 p.m. and viewing access to the stream is free.