500 Duke Tickets Remain After Distribution

A low student turnout for Saturday's distribution means Carolina Athletic Association officials are handing out about 500 leftover tickets on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The distribution begins at 8 a.m. today and will run until 5 p.m. at the Smith Center ticket office.

CAA Ticket Manager Mike Kuhn said CAA officials will continue to distribute the leftovers until all tickets are gone, possibly through Wednesday.

Any student with a UNC ONE Card can pick up tickets, Kuhn said. Students are entitled to one ticket per ONE Card and can bring a maximum of two cards with them to the distribution.

Seniors had the first chance at tickets Saturday morning, but even after underclassmen got in line at 10 a.m., not all of the available tickets -- about 5,000 -- were distributed, Kuhn said. "We had a lot of no-shows on Saturday," he said.

Kuhn said this year's turnout for distribution was unusual, considering tickets usually are quickly given out before the rival game. "Compared to past years, we definitely had a lower turnout," he said.

While the number of students who came out for tickets was disappointing, Kuhn said, he believes several factors could have lessened student participation.

Kuhn speculated that students are still getting used to CAA's new policies and system for bracelet and ticket distribution. This is the first year CAA has held bracelet distribution at Gate 5 of Kenan Stadium, he said.

He also added that students still might not be accustomed to CAA members announcing bracelet numbers in the Pit on the Fridays after bracelet distribution. "The fewer bracelets we distribute could be attributed to the fact that we're curbing cheating, or it could be due to declining interest," Kuhn said.

UNC's win-loss record is 6-11, and Kuhn said the team's lackluster performance this season might have affected the UNC-Duke ticket distribution this year. "Obviously our record doesn't help," he said.

But Kuhn said he is hesitant to attribute low turnout to declining interest in UNC basketball. "I'm not sure -- maybe student interest is declining, maybe not," he said. "It's tough to tell."

He said it is impossible to accurately gauge whether students are losing faith in their team based on this particular distribution. "We'll have to look to next year," he said.

But CAA President Reid Chaney said he hopes Sunday's 87-69 victory over Clemson will draw larger crowds to today's distribution.

Events scheduled for "Beat Dook Week" are still under way, including the annual "What Would You Do for Dook Tickets?" contest. Kuhn said even though there is a surplus of tickets, he hopes that students will participate in the contest, in which students compete for four lower section tickets and four riser section tickets.

Students can compete for the prized tickets at noon Tuesday in the Pit.

Kuhn said CAA officials decided to keep the week's events scheduled so that students will remain excited about the game. "Everything's going to continue to go," he said. "We hope people will still be motivated."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.