It’s not quite as bad as paying someone to attend, but it’s close enough. With four home games scheduled for the month of December and school sessions ending on Thursday, The University of West Alabama Athletic Director Dee Outlaw announced today that that there will be free admission to all UWA home basketball games in the month of December.

It will not be the first time the school has decided to give fans free admission as it seems every year at this time the students leave campus and Pruitt Hall becomes almost vacant.

The men’s basketball team saw it happen earlier this season as they played their home opener against William Carey with 902

in attendance, only to come home during the Thanksgiving break for their second home game of the

season to host Augusta State with only 150 in attendance.

But the students being on break are only part of the problem at UWA.

At the other end of the spectrum is the UWA record.

While the Lady Tigers seem to be doing their part to keep fans in the stands as they weigh in with a 4-2 overall record, the men’s team seems to be having the opposite effect when it comes to fans with a 1-8 overall record.

But even with a winning record the Lady Tigers are averaging 188 fans per game at home, while averaging 236 fans per game on the road. As a matter of fact, both the men and women’s teams are seeing more fans in the stands when they are on the road. In their first two home games, the men’s basketball team averaged 526 fans per game while averaging almost three times that on the road at 1455 fans per game.

So while Pruitt Hall may not be the largest college basketball arena, it can sure hold more than four and five hundred. Besides what’s better than free tickets?

There are a total of four home basketball games scheduled for the remainder of December:

Saturday, Dec. 13 – UWA (men) vs. Christian Brothers 7:30 p.m.

Monday, Dec. 15 – UWA (men) vs. Emmanuel College 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 20 – UWA (women) vs. Kennesaw State 2 p.m.

Wednesday, Dec. 31 – UWA (women) vs. Mobile University 2 p.m.