Entering his third season at Michigan, basketball coach Tommy Amaker continues to embrace the student body. And his latest gesture may be his most generous.
- Louie Meizlish
- Members of the Maze Craze cheer as the Michigan basketball team defeats Wayne State Nov. 1, 2002. Maze Crazers will now have first priority on free tickets to basketball games. (Tony Ding/The Michigan Daily)
Following an anonymous gift to Amaker’s program, the coach announced that he would give student season ticket holders a chance to renew their tickets at no charge. Last season’s Maize Ragers have until Sept. 30 to claim their free seats.
“Our students are a critical part of our program,” Amaker said. “We cannot reach our goals without their support and spirit.”
Other students can still purchase season tickets. If free bleacher seats remain unclaimed after the deadline, all other student season ticket holders will be entered into a lottery for those spots and a refund.
Prior to his first season, Amaker moved the student section down on the floor with the construction of a new bleacher section. Following 13 years at Duke, where the “Cameron Crazies” are king, Amaker has a deep understanding for the importance of student support. Now, he is the first coach in the Big Ten to help make free basketball tickets available to the student body.
His actions have not gone unnoticed.
“We’re very grateful to the donor and to Tommy,” said Peter Lund, also known as Super Fan IV. “That money could have gone towards a lot of things. The relationship between the basketball office and the student body has never been better.”
There are around 500-600 seats in the bleacher section. Lund estimates that about 475 of those spots will be filled by returning Maize Ragers.