This time of year, the basketball season is in full swing at college campuses all over the country. And even where it's still the dead of winter, there's a hot spot on many campuses where the field house lights draw fans like moths to the flame. Spring is still far away, but nothing warms up a college basketball fan like a home game where the bleachers are packed and the band is belting out the fight song as the home team takes the floor.

But new this year are on-campus personal appearances by J.J. Jumper, a character designed to promote youth basketball participation and healthy physical activity; an expanded NCAA Basketball Web site where fans can follow their team and easily find links to school home pages; and NCAA Basketball T-shirts and soft "stress balls" that also boast institutional logos.

"We want schools to look to us as a resource," said John L. Johnson, NCAA director of promotions and special events. "This promotional campaign is really setting the groundwork for what we hope we may one day be able to do for all NCAA sports."

It's all about connecting with the fans, working to develop the fans of tomorrow and, ultimately, helping create community support for the student-athletes on the court. Everybody talks about "home-court advantage," but the student-athletes are the ones who feel it when they sink a three-pointer or stage a 15-point comeback.

In a lot of ways, the name NCAA is synonymous with exciting basketball action. It's easy to forget, though, that the action certainly is not limited to the Division I Final Fours. Thrilling play, fabulous shots and record-setting feats take place at men's and women's games in all NCAA divisions -- all across the country.

Making the connection

One way to get that idea across to the average fan is by "co-branding," or associating the name "NCAA Basketball" with that of the member institution. The NCAA Basketball promotional program helps institutions do that by offering NCAA Basketball floor decals and banners. Most popular are the banners that include the institution's name, like this one from St. Joseph's University: "NCAA Basketball...St. Joseph's Hawks are My Team!"

This year, institutions could order decals and two such banners from the NCAA for free. Schools placed the banners on the scorer's table, on the scoreboard, on rotational signage, over concession stands and at various locations throughout arenas. A total of 261 NCAA member institutions participated by ordering the free signage this year: 74 in Division I, 82 in Division II and 104 in Division III.

Institutional marketing directors had expressed an interest in obtaining promotional items to distribute at home games, and the NCAA responded by using its buying power to assist, purchasing 9,000 T-shirts with a blank front and the NCAA Basketball mark on the back. The T-shirts were made available on a first-come, first-served basis to the first 90 institutions -- 30 from each division -- that responded. Schools could choose either a two-color or three-color front imprint, and the total cost to each institution for 100 T-shirts was only $120 to $165, depending on the number of colors chosen.

The NCAA also had 21,000 stress balls produced with the NCAA Basketball mark imprinted on one side. The first 35 schools from each division that responded to this offer were able to purchase the balls with their school logo on the other side. (Schools were asked to choose between the T-shirt and the balls, so that more institutions could participate.) Each participating school could purchase 200 stress balls, personalized for that institution, for a cost of only about $100.

The University of Southern Indiana purchased T-shirts, and it also placed an NCAA Basketball logo on the floor in front of the scorer's table in its basketball arena.

Ray Simmons, sports information director at Southern Indiana, said the signage and the shirts had been popular among fans at his school.

"Floor signage, banners, T-shirts and anything like that, that's where most of our promotional efforts are concentrated," he said, noting that those items were a big help to smaller schools. "We work to get the student fans out and get the local people out to support the teams, and those things help us."

At Southern Indiana, the T-shirts are given out at women's conference home games. One gets thrown into the stands for each three-point shot the Southern Indiana squad makes.

Conferences also are eligible for the offers of signage and other related items. Greg Turner, director of marketing and television for the Ohio Valley Conference, used an NCAA Basketball banner at the men's and women's conference tournaments last year. Turner said fans noticed it, and the local radio station made reference to it as well.

"It has worked out great. We try to do as much as we can to help create excitement," he said. "And whenever we can get signage that associates us with the NCAA, that's a good thing. It helps to increase that awareness that we all are a part of the NCAA. People see it, and it solidifies your membership with the Association in the fans' minds."

Take A Kid To The Game (TAKG), administered by Host Communications, is a nationwide grass-roots program encouraging adults to take a child to an NCAA basketball game and personally experience the action. The 2000-01 TAKG marks the sixth year in the promotion of NCAA Women's Basketball and the third year in the promotion of NCAA Men's Basketball and NCAA Football.

This year, 544 basketball programs -- 245 men's and 299 women's -- participated in the TAKG program through NCAA Basketball. There were 140 Division I men's basketball programs and 188 Division I women's programs; 65 Division II men's programs and 65 Division II women's programs; and 41 Division III men's programs and 46 Division III women's programs.

The TAKG program allows institutions to offer all adults buying a full-priced ticket to receive a free or discounted youth (14 and under) ticket on the school's selected TAKG day.

'Jumping' with excitement

J.J. started the season off at the NCAA Hall of Champions in Indianapolis, participating in the NCAA basketball season tip-off event. J.J. will be travelling the country throughout basketball season, making appearances on campus at 96 regular-season men's and wo-men's basketball games, five conference tournaments and all six NCAA basketball championships.

The Ohio Valley Conference's Greg Turner requested a J.J. Jumper appearance at the league's postseason tournament this year, and he was tickled when the character's availability was confirmed.

But the NCAA's John Johnson, director of promotions and special events, said the creature's purpose is not just to entertain.

"We see J.J. Jumper as a way to carry positive messages the NCAA supports -- such as those about staying in school, sportsmanship and participating in physical activity -- in a way that won't turn kids off," John-son said.

NCAA Basketball Web site is cyber-slam dunk

A unique "My Team" feature lets college basketball fans personalize the site and follow the progress of their favorite team, viewing schedules, scores, television schedules and team news. Users may even select a number of teams to follow at once, and all men's and women's basketball teams in all three divisions may be selected.

"We want ncaabasketball.net to be the Internet portal to all the conference and school sites," said John L. Johnson NCAA director of promotions and special events. "We want it to be the most comprehensive regular-season site available, and we are very focused on directing traffic to member institution sites. We've made it very simple to move from our site to team sites, and we encourage people to do so."

More than 650,000 fans have visited the site since October 2000, and there are more than 24,000 registered "My Team" users, with more than 5,000 of those hailing from outside the United States. The site has had more than 11 million "hits" since October, and 85 percent of NCAA member institutions participate in providing some content for the "My Team" section of the site.

Johnson said coverage will be even more complete this year as the Web site also is getting game content now from the Associated Press. That permits bucket-by-bucket coverage in Division I, and it also adds to the offerings provided by Division II and Division III schools.

Johnson said that the NCAA has worked to make the extranet, which is the means by which institutions submit their scores and team news, easy to use.

"We know that the SID's time is very valuable, so we asked the developer of this to make it as easy as possible," Johnson said, noting that NCAA staff members made a trip to the annual CoSIDA convention to get feedback on the Web site and the promotional program. "We don't want to add a burden to someone who's already asked to do a great deal."

Ray Simmons, sports information director at the University of Southern Indiana, said he has found the site accommodating. "It's much easier than what USA Today tried a few years ago," he said. "With the (NCAA's) extranet, you just give your user name and log in. It's very simple to use."

As part of the My Team feature, each NCAA member institution has free access to an official page for men's and women's basketball on the NCAA Basketball site during the regular season. Fans also get a direct link to basketball trivia, electronic postcards and screen savers through the team page.

The Web site also features a new Kid's Corner this season, with interactive J.J. Jumper games, including a cyber coloring book and a new take on the old game of "Concentration." J.J. Jumper also explains the rules to young basketball fans, and the kids can participate in a trivia game that tests their basketball knowledge.

Others institutions that will be added to the Virtual Arena Tours later this season are: the University of Wisconsin, Platteville; Indiana University, Bloomington; the University of Connecticut; Muhlenberg College; Stanford University; the University of Southern Indiana; and Lincoln Memorial University.

"Those will start going up in mid-February," Johnson said. "We really provide a focus on the facilities, not the team stars or the coaches. In deciding which schools to do next, we took the results of Quick Polls taken on the Web site."

The athletics department at Southern Indiana is looking forward to showcasing its facilities on ncaabasketball.net.

"The coaches are just thrilled," Simmons said. "We're very proud to have been chosen."