Cameron Indoor Has It's Craziness Subtracted

Duke University announced Tuesday morning that no fans will be present for any home men's or women's basketball games. 

The Cameron Crazies are one of college athletics most dedicated, passionate, loud fan bases, and the lack of their presence will certainly be felt in Durham, NC. 

While the stadium is small, it is compact, high-energy, and loud. Cameron Indoor Stadium is a significantly smaller stadium compared to other Division I arenas; capacity of the venue is 9,314, compared to 21,750 of rival UNC's Dean Smith Center. The Crazies have always had a way of impacting opposing teams when they step onto the court. They are always providing a constant stream of energy and noise, they have every bit of heckles and trash talk jotted down on a cheer sheet, and they never turn the passion off.

Two years ago, I had the opportunity to go to my first Duke home game, and it was an experience like no other. The Blue Devils had a matchup against Hartford, and it was the season in which the electrifying Zion Williamson was with the team. Zion was like an on-court version of the Crazies because he always brought the energy, and he never turned it off. The building was erupting at every Zion pre-game dunk, the in-game alley oops, his blocks that he reached up to the top of Everest to get, and the absolute brutal beating Hartford was taking.

It is going to be a vastly different experience this season.

The stadium is going to be quiet, the energy of the room will have to be created by the players, and the opposition will be able to play without having to be concerned with hecklers, noise, and home-court advantage.

Since the stadium is small, that is less empty space that will be left, but the absence of the Crazies will certainly be felt all the same.

It will be up to each team to decide whether to host fans or not (in cooperation with state law). The NCAA and CDC designated basketball as a high-risk sport in terms of the coronavirus, so it is likely that few teams, if any, will decide to host fans.

The Blue Devils begin their season on opening day for NCAA Men's Basketball with a matchup against Gardner-Webb on November 25th.