For diehard Gopher Basketball fans, Midnight Madness often results in mixed emotions. You wait 6+ months for the clock to strike midnight, but then the event is over before you know it. A 20-minute running-clock scrimmage gives you a brief glimpse at the players but not much more than that. Fortunately, we diehards can find comfort in the fact that a full-length scrimmage is just a week or two away with exhibition games beginning shortly after that.

After the usual pre-midnight festivities (for diehards, that probably meant gawking at Wesley Washington and the recruits who were in attendance), the Men's and Women's teams were introduced. The players each came out onto the court with the song of their choice blaring (Jeff Hagen and I'm Too Sexy... was one of the highlights) and with smoke and spotlights covering the floor. The coaches' entrances were a little more subdued.

After midnight, the Men warmed up (the highlight dunks in the "layup line" helped fill the void of a slam dunk contest) and then scrimmaged. I already posted the scoring breakdown for the scrimmage, which Maroon won 30-28 over Gold. Mike Bauer and Moe Hargrow didn't participate (although Bauer was dunking in warm-ups), but everybody else saw some action. Kris Humphries and Adam Boone were probably the most impressive players on their respective teams, and the overall strength of the players was what impressed me most from a team standpoint.

Boone had several nice drives and dishes, and he also had a big follow-up dunk. Kris hit a couple of 3-pointers and a turnaround, but the play I liked best was his first. He faked a 3-pointer on the wing, drove baseline, and threw down a huge dunk over a helpless defender. Also, Dan Coleman showed the athleticism and improved strength that people have been talking about, Aaron Robinson connected on a couple of 3-pointers and looked 100% healthy, Aliou Kane showed a soft shooting touch and a not-so-soft physique, and Jeff Hagen displayed his usual assortment of post moves.

Up next was the Women's scrimmage. White dominated Maroon in this one (again, see the scoring summary). All of the newcomers looked impressive, including freshmen Jamie Broback, Liz Podominick, and Kelly Rosland, along with transfers April Calhoun and Katie Alsdurf (who looked especially good). Broback and Shannon Schonrock led the way for White, while Alsdurf and Shannon Bolden did the scoring for Maroon. Lindsay Whalen was in pass-first mode for 19:59, but she did decide to drain a 3-pointer at the buzzer for good measure.

And with that, another season of Golden Gopher Basketball is upon us. Stay tuned.