Hoping to net game record

No timeouts. No halftime. Just 58 hours of pure, unadulterated Duke-Carolina basketball.

Students from UNC and Duke University will team up this weekend in the Duke-Carolina Basketball Marathon, which if successful will break the Guinness World Record for the longest basketball game.

Twenty-four players will take the floor at 8 a.m. Saturday in Fetzer Gym. They plan to continue playing until 6 p.m. Monday, which would break the standing record of 30 hours and 12 minutes.

After hearing rumors that a previous basketball marathon - currently under review by Guinness officials - could set the record, the students decided to set a goal for almost double the previous time.

"We want to smash the record and go all out," said UNC junior Antonia Logue, a publicity co-chairwoman for the event.

The event will raise money for Hoop Dreams Basketball Academy, a nonprofit organization that works with children with life-threatening illnesses.

Players and their "fan clubs" collected donations in an effort to reach the event's $80,000 goal.

If the rivalry isn't enticing enough, a few other big names potentially could draw attention.

John Edwards, director of the UNC Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity, is scheduled to toss the game's opening tip-off.

Spalding, the world's largest basketball equipment brand, has agreed to sponsor the event.

Players will use a Never Flat ball, the newest Spalding model, for the entire game. Organizers estimate the ball will be bounced more than 100,000 times if the game goes the distance.

Courtside air mattresses donated for the event will allow players to sleep while they're not playing.

UNC senior David Baker, a political science and Spanish double major, said he and his teammates have been training for the event.

"I've been looking forward to it for a really long time," he said.

Baker, who plans to bring three or four sets of clothing in addition to the two jerseys provided by Spalding, predicts the score will be 1,500 to 1,471. "Carolina wins, of course."

Organizers said they hope the rivalry between the schools will encourage fans to come and cheer. Admission to the event is free.

"There's a competitive fire that always exists between the two schools," said junior David Walker, the co-director of the event at Duke.

Organizers from both schools emphasized that winning comes second to raising money for charity.

"We'd be excited to have us win, but the main thing to do is raise money for Hoop Dreams," Logue said.

Greg Richmond, a senior and co-director of the marathon at UNC, came up with the idea during the summer and used UNC's Newman Catholic Student Center as a means of publicizing at Duke.

After months of planning, Richmond said he's glad to see the event gain so much support.

"We hope this becomes a tradition of community service between the two schools and gets bigger and better each year."

 

Rules of the game

The game must be played according to International Basketball Federation rules and regulations of basketball.

There will be no halftime or timeouts.

No player can play more than four consecutive hours and must sit out for at least one hour before rejoining the game.

Players can leave the court only during five-minute "comfort" breaks. Otherwise, players must eat, study and sleep on the court.

Official referees and medical personnel must be present at all times.

Fouls are reset after two hours. A player fouled out during the two-hour period cannot return to the game.

A player who is injured cannot continue to play or return to the game.

The entire game must be filmed for documentary purposes.

 

 

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.