Tweet

BLACKSBURG, Va. – On Monday evening, September 28, the Virginia Tech men’s basketball community participated in a new, engaging event, The Hokie Holler. And from all early signs, the event was successful on a number of different levels.

Beginning at 4 p.m. and lasting past the designated 7 p.m. hour, members of the Virginia Tech community gathered in the ticket office in Lane Stadium to call potential ticket buyers for the upcoming men’s basketball season. Professors, staff, students and alumni all took shifts in making the calls. After workouts, the men’s basketball players, coaches and staff joined in the fun.

In listening into the calls, there was plenty of information being shared and quite a few laughs. Early on, when Voice of the Hokies, Jon Laaser, made his second call, someone asked if someone could verify it actually was Laaser (It was).

Perhaps no one had more fun than Coach Buzz Williams, his staff and the players. Seth Allen made several very popular calls and Kerry Blackshear made a sale on his very first call! Justin Robinson left a little sad, because he left a lot of voicemails in his batch of calls. The personable Robinson wanted more fans to speak with.

"It was fun, they seemed pretty excited for the season,” Allen said. “A lot of them said they were already going to go online and buy tickets, so you know, they're going fast. It was good."

At the end of the night, 38 individuals made 600-700 calls. All geared as much towards building momentum for the new season and informing the fan base, as to sell tickets.

The success of this venture will probably not be completely reliant on the number of tickets sold or upgraded. The engagement and interaction between the players, coaches and staff, plus the true Hokie fans who volunteered their time and the potential ticket purchasers will, ultimately yield great benefits.

The good news is, due to this venture, more fans will be attending games in Cassell Coliseum. The better news is more fans now have a stronger understanding on the excitement building for the upcoming season and the best news is a select number of fans got some real-time, interaction with the players and staff that make Virginia Tech basketball special.

The players and coaches know the importance of a full, excited Cassell Coliseum come game day.

"Yes sir, 40 days away!" Allen excitedly said.

To purchase season tickets for the Virginia Tech basketball season, log on to Hokietickets.com or call 1-800-828-3244.

For updates on Virginia Tech men's basketball, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_MBBall