Indiana University Athletics
Midnight Madness Diary (10-14-02)
10/14/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
October 14, 2002
Diary of Cyndi Valentin
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Indiana freshman guard Cyndi Valentin keeps a diary of what life is like for her both on and off the court in her first year at IU. Valentin is fresh off a stellar career at Bloomington South High School, where she led the Panthers to a number-one ranking in the state her senior year.
An Indiana All-Star in her final season at South, Valentin has been considered among the top players in the state since her sophomore season.
Here is the third installation of the Diary of Cyndi Valentin, covering her experience at Midnight Madness. Valentin won the three-point shooting contest, defeating defending champion Ryan Tapak of the Indiana men's team for the championship. Following is her day, in her words.
Friday, October 11, 2002
1:15 p.m.
"Tonight is the big night. It's Midnight Madness, and I'm really excited for that. I'm kind of nervous, just because a lot of people go to that. I'm not used to being in front of such a big crowd. I'm excited, because it's going to be our first practice. This is what we have been preparing for over the summer, through conditioning, it's just great to know that the season is getting started. I think it will be a lot of fun.
Today I went to class at eight. I had English. We were doing ad analysis. We have a paper due next Friday about that. Yesterday was our last day of conditioning. It was a lot of fun. Actually, the seniors tricked us and told us we had to do suicides and diamonds and all this stuff, but we ended up playing flag football. It was a lot of fun. I would say that both teams tied, so that's how I would leave it. That's pretty much it for now. Midnight Madness tonight, and I'm just so excited for that.
I have class today at 2:30 like usual. Calculus. Then I have Spanish. We actually didn't have any basketball today, so I went to class at 8:00 to 8:50, then I came home and went to sleep, just to get my rest in. I have to do a press conference at 9:00. I'm actually doing the three-point shooting contest at Midnight Madness, so we'll see how that goes."
5:00 p.m.
"I just got done with all my classes. In calculus, we went over the homework that we had last night and in Spanish, we learned a new section, so nothing exciting really there. It's hard to concentrate, because I'm so excited for that. I was in calculus and I saw the paper, the IDS, and like all the stuff about Midnight Madness. It makes me feel happy that I'm a part of it and a part of Midnight Madness and the IU basketball team. I'm just excited for tonight to come. I am going to go get some food and just chill until we have to go to Assembly."
7:35 p.m.
"I just got back from eating. I went out with one of my friends, Sally. Me and Kali went to go eat at Scotty's with her. It was really good. I had a Parmesan Chicken Wrap and it was really good. I am at the dorms right now and I am going to leave in like an hour to go to Assembly to go do the press conference."
9:50 p.m.
"I just got done with the press conference, and it went a lot better than I thought it would go. I didn't really know what to expect going in to it, but it went well. I am going to put on some gear and go shoot before Midnight Madness, so that's what I am going to go do now."
3:15 a.m.
"Just got done practicing. It's 3:15 in the morning, and practice went okay. Midnight Madness was awesome. Definitely a lot more people than I expected. I was nervous. Very nervous going into it, when the doors opened and you see all those people and I was the first to run out. It just kind of hit me that basketball is starting now. It was very cool. I won the three-point contest. Definitely didn't expect to win that. I just went in there looking to have fun. All my friends came out and they were awesome. I could hear them cheering. My family was there, so it was a lot of fun. I am going to go shower and go to bed."
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballWednesday, August 12
Wednesday, August 12
Tuesday, August 11
Tuesday, August 11