By ALEX ABATE ~ DAR Sports Writer

Midnight Madness is here again.

Three Rivers will be hosting its 10th annual event at 7 p.m. Wednesday night at the Bess Activity Center. It will be the first practice of the season for the men's and women's basketball teams and admission is free.

"We've been conditioning for a while," Raiders men's basketball coach Gene Bess said. "It is going to be a new experience to get out and try and look a little organized. It will be what we need."

The Lady Raiders are ready to get going as well.

"We are anxious to get started," Lady Raiders coach Jack Childress said. "(The team) has been working hard with lifting and scrimmaging hard on their own."

The Raiders have just five players returning from last year's team that finished fourth in the nation.

Ken Bingham, the only starter on last year's squad will be out for the opening practice with a knee injury but should be back soon. Some of the newcomers are 6-foot-10 sophomore Jeremy Marrs, 6-9 freshman Aloysius Henry and 6-0 guard Nick Niemczyk.

"I think we have an interesting mix," Bess said. "We've got some freshman that look like they are going to step up and be ready to play."

The start of the practice season is an opportunity for Bess to mix and match players at different positions to see where they fit best.

"We'll be doing that all October, trying to work that out," Bess said. "We are pretty pleased with the two big guys, we have to replace two awfully good posts."

The Raiders lost their leading rebounder from last season in Jeff McClain, who transferred to Murray State University.

"I don't see a big rebounder yet to replace McClain," Bess said. "I like the way Jamarcus Williams is playing at 6-4. He has a good feel for the game. We feel pretty good about most of the positions we have."

As far as the women are concerned, this will be the first time Childress will work with new coach Jeff Walk.

"We are two happy campers," Childress said. "We are both here for the same purpose and that is to make the players better."

Walk coached for 20 seasons at Twin Rivers High School and has valuable experience to bring to the Lady Raiders, Childress said.

"He has been around the block a couple times," he added. "He's very competent and got a good feel for the players and where they need to be."

The opening practice and the days beyond are somewhat of a trial period for the Lady Raiders roster.

"It is kind of a puzzle finding out who needs to be where and what places they are on the depth chart," Childress said.

The Lady Raiders lost two sophomores in Michelle Kinney and Bobbie Jones from last year's squad but should have adequate numbers at the guard spot with the addition of Kaylee Blue and Sara Woodgeard to go with Meredith Medlin, Brittney Peet and Kaci Menz.