Stroke of Midnight to Usher in Season

College basketball practice, which cannot begin before Nov. 1, will start tonight with dozens of schools across the nation conducting midnight practices.

Both men’s and women’s practices at Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine will be held.

At Fullerton, a post-midnight scrimmage in Titan Gym will be preceded by a Halloween party and a game featuring Titan alumni. Free pizza, soft drinks and pie will be distributed among the crowd.

At Irvine, T-shirts, burritos and tacos will be given to fans, some of whom will compete in a three-on-three tournament, a dunk contest and a three-point shooting contest.

A scrimmage will follow.

Fullerton’s new men’s coach, former UCLA assistant Brad Holland, said that his players favored the idea of a gala opening.

“They’re really excited about this season and they wanted to kick it off as soon as they could,” he said. “And the fact that it’s Halloween and it’s Saturday night, they really wanted to do it.”

USC, UCLA, Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount and Cal State Long Beach will wait until later on Sunday to open practice.

Cal State Northridge will start Monday.

The start of practice, which before this season was Oct. 15, was pushed back by the NCAA, which wanted to reduce the time demands required of athletes.

“It has been kind of weird,” UCLA Coach Jim Harrick said. “Everybody’s itchy to start. The kids are excited about playing.”

Except for a few preseason tournaments that are exempt from the new rules, NCAA teams cannot open the season before Dec. 1.

UCLA will play St. Louis on Nov. 18 at Pauley Pavilion in the first round of the Big Apple National Invitation Tournament, one of the exemptions.