UAlbany men's basketball welcomes fans for open practice

ALBANY, NY (NEWS10) -- Thanks to new NCAA rules in the NIL era, college basketball teams can now hold open practices in front of fans in the summer. The UAlbany men's basketball team did so for the first time Thursday.

The Great Danes welcomed fans to the Broadview Center for an open practice and scrimmage. It was the first opportunity for the new faces on the roster to put on the purple and gold in front of the UAlbany faithful.

Head coach Dwayne Killings believes it's a win-win for his team and the community. "The great thing for us is we have some of the best fans in our league and I think some of our guys are surprised we can get people out in the summertime," said Killings. "It's special. It gives you that kind of game day juice of the season already in August, so it's fun for us. We go out here, compete, learn a little bit about each other, get a break and then we get ready for the journey. I think it's great for fans, it's great for engagement, great for program building, great for community building. We're able to take advantage of these things, and it's huge moments for our program and honestly for our campus just to get people into the Broadview Center."