The University of Tennessee men's and women's basketball programs will host the third annual Market Square Madness event Oct. 18, as announced Wednesday morning.
Held at Market Square in downtown Knoxville, fewer than 1.5 miles north of the Tennessee campus, festivities will officially begin at 7:30 p.m.
Starting 30 minutes earlier, at 7 p.m., fans will have the chance to take photos with Smokey and members of the Tennessee Spirit Squads, as well as visit face painting stations and compete in on-court contests for prizes.
DJ Sterl will be on-site, as well.
After a performance by the Tennessee dance team, DJ Sterl will introduce the 2024-25 Volunteers and Lady Volunteers, with skill challenges and fan contests to follow.
Admission to Market Square Madness is free. Attendees are encouraged to park in the Market Square Garage, State Street Garage or Locust Street Garage, each of which will be free to access after 6 p.m.
Fans interested in purchasing season tickets to see the women's basketball team in action this season can do so
HERE. Men's basketball season tickets are already sold out, but fans interested in learning more about season tickets for future years can do so by clicking
HERE. Additionally, fans seeking to bring a large group to Food City Center this season can begin that process
HERE.
Single-game tickets for both programs will go on sale at
AllVols.com at a later date.
The Lady Vols enter the 2024-25 campaign under the direction of first-year head coach Kim Caldwell. The UT women feature six experienced players returning from last season, including starters
Jewel Spear and
Sara Puckett, and welcome five additions from the transfer portal as well as a pair of highly-regarded redshirts. The squad will employ Caldwell's trademark high-octane offense and intense pressure defense, looking to propel Tennessee to its 43rd-consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Coming off arguably its best season ever, the Tennessee men's basketball team brings back seven players, including senior guard
Zakai Zeigler, the reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Year. The Volunteers went 27-9 (14-4 SEC) in 2023-24, won an outright SEC regular season title, reached the Elite Eight and finished a program-best fifth nationally in both major polls. Tenth-year head coach
Rick Barnes welcomes five new scholarship players, including a quartet of Division I transfers, to this year's roster.