BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Virginia Tech Athletics Department will extend its popular Twenty4You fan initiative into the upcoming basketball season.

“The Twenty4You initiative has been such a success during the football season, that it is now being extended into the upcoming basketball season,” Virginia Tech Director of Athletics, Whit Babcock said, “Using all of the feedback we have received from Hokie Nation, we know that our fans will enjoy and benefit from the improvements we are implementing for basketball. Our aim is to create memorable experiences for our fans and student-athletes and this program is a great way to achieve that goal.”

The Virginia Tech Athletics Department surveyed fans following the 2014-15 season, and has listened carefully to those suggestions and comments. Thanks to that significant response, Tech will implement a number of initiatives to make the game day experience more enjoyable for everyone.

Some of the notable improvements and enhancements for the 2015-16 will include:

Courtside seating for fans, as Courtside at Cassell begins this season

- For the first time in Cassell, fans now have the opportunity to sit close to the action. Prices and amenities vary; for more information please click here.

Improved ADA seating

- With the addition of courtside seating, and new seating built into the stands, a larger and more convenient section has been built off the South concourse to allow for increased ADA seating in Cassell.

New concession offerings

- There are a few new food options in Cassell for basketball games, including gluten-free offerings at all permanent concession stands.

Secret Shopper Program

- Tech has utilized a “secret shopper” system to attend a football game in the past, and this year they will attend and analyze basketball games as well. This service provides valuable feedback to the department on how to improve all areas of game day, including but not limited to: parking, entrances, food service, and usher staff.

Event Staff and Parking Services

- Rhino Sports and Entertainment Services was recently contracted with the department to oversee the parking and event staffing needs on game day. “The Hokie Standard,” defined by Rhino, is their desire to “provide an unsurpassed customer service experience to everyone, all the time.”

Game specific parking passes

- Hokie season ticket holders with season-long parking received game specific parking passes. This will seek to help prevent the loss of season-long parking passes and ease individual transactions amongst one another.

Season ticket holder benefits

- Season ticket holder of the game

- At various home basketball games, select Hokie Club members and season ticket holders will be recognized and honored for their on-going support of the Hokies.

- Game day offers

- Season ticket holders will be offered a variety of items at home games this fall. Each game will feature a slightly different item or offer, and quantities will vary. For example, at the men’s basketball game on Saturday, November 14, the first 200 season ticket holders will receive a “This is Home” t-shirt. All game day offers can be claimed at the Marketing and Promotions booth by section 1.

- Personalized Season Ticket Executives

- This season each season ticket account will be assigned a personal season ticket service executive. Service executives will be available for any questions or concerns and will provide personalized service to each season ticket holder's account. Service executives may be contacted by phone or by direct email. To view your executive's contact information log on to your personalized ticket account page here: http://hokietickets.com/purl/

Hokie Focus Group

- The inaugural “Hokie Focus Group” was assembled in August with the goal of improving the overall fan experience at all Virginia Tech home events. The group, made up of a diverse profile of Virginia Tech fans, met in late August to provide a broad overview of feedback. As the Focus Group continues, they will next meet in December to provide in-depth feedback on the gameday experience within Cassell Coliseum.

Redesign of HokieSports.com

- A new look to HokieSports.com is coming later this month. It will feature a new responsive design and a more dynamic layout. With the redesign, HokieSports.com will be even more mobile friendly and will feature a bottom-line ticker with up-to-date Virginia Tech scores and game information.

Facility Facelifts

Donor Endowment Wall

- In addition to the new video boards and sound system over last two seasons, a new the donor endowment wall was recently added. The endowment/scholarship donor wall is designed to recognize all athletic endowment/scholarship donors for Virginia Tech student-athletes. The Virginia Tech Athletic Fund gratefully acknowledges our athletic scholarship donors. These endowed funds provide annual scholarship opportunities for student-athletes and will support athletic scholarship needs in perpetuity.

HokieVision Updates

- Similar to football season, a concerted effort will be made to increase the number of score updates of ACC and Top 25 games going on around the country. Additionally, there will continue to be more student-athlete focused features shared on game day.

Concourse activities

- At select home games this season, fans can participate in a variety of activities, including but not limited to: photo booth, face painting, interactive stations with university departments, and sponsor activations.

Public Address Announcer

- The department recently announced the hire of a new men’s basketball PA announcer in Mike Sparrer, in a continuing effort to enhance the fan experience and game day atmosphere in Cassell Coliseum. Release here.

Halftime acts

- The marketing department is continuing to provide as many national and local halftime acts as possible this basketball season. Headlining the list of national acts is fan-favorite Red Panda Acrobat. Other notable acts include Peter Rabbit Bucker Drummer, Air Elite Dunkers, and a K9 dog trick show. For a complete listing of upcoming halftime acts, please click here, or visit the basketball schedules on HokieSports.com.

National Anthem Performers

- For the games in which the pep bands are not in town, national anthem performers have been scheduled. Tech utilizes anthem performers at various sporting events. If you are interested or know someone who can sing or perform the anthem, please email vtmarketing@hokiesports.com.

Cassell Guard

- The student section in its entirety is known as “Cassell Guard”. Earlier this fall a student executive board and street team were formed to help focus on student-based attendance initiatives and atmosphere enhancers. Students are encouraged to follow @CassellGuardVT on Twitter and Snapchat for updated student game day information.

Hokie Ticket Share

- Can’t make it to every home games? Going out of town or have your plans change? Use the HokieTicketShare platform and share your unused tickets with a local charitable or youth organization so they can enjoy a Hokie basketball game this season. For more information on this service, please click here.

Attendance rewards

- Gobbler Student Rewards was recently introduced to encourage student attendance at all Hokie athletics home events. Students can earn points for their attendance and reach various prize thresholds throughout the year.

- General public season ticket holders will have the opportunity to claim various items and offers at home games this fall, as noted above under season ticket holder benefits.

More new initiatives will be coming as the season progresses. Ticket buyers are encouraged to complete the fan surveys that will be emailed throughout the season, to help ensure game days are enjoyable for everyone.

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