Los Angeles, CA - The days of taking some time off leading up to a college basketball season are long over, and it will be reflected by the week's to follow for the Loyola Marymount men and women's basketball programs. LMU Men's Basketball Head Coach Bill Bayno and LMU Women's Basketball Head Coach Julie Wilhoit along with their teams will spend the week's leading up to the start of the 2008-09 season with busy schedules bringing Lion fans sneak peaks at the coming basketball campaign.

There is also this little thing called practice, as it officially starts this Friday, Oct. 17.

Several weeks of promotional activities got started on Oct. 8 as Bayno was a speaker at the annual College Basketball Tip-Off Luncheon hosted by the Wooden Award at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. In addition both teams spent the morning of Oct. 11 with a full slate of film sessions for television and advertising campaigns.

The highlight events of the preseason promotional calendar are still to come. The West Coast Conference will host its first-ever Basketball Media Day this Wednesday, Oct. 15 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. The event will take place from 1:00-3:00 p.m. (PT). Fans can watch live coverage of the event as well as view exclusive on-demand coaches' interviews for free at WCCsports.com.

The moderated program gets underway at 1:00 p.m. (PT) with the unveiling of the 2008-09 WCC men's and women's preseason coaches polls as well as the WCC preseason all-conference teams. Later in the day one-on-one interviews with all 16 WCC head coaches will be available for free on-demand viewing.

October 15th also serves as the first day that single game tickets for LMU men's and women's basketball will go on sale to the public. In addition, it will also be the day tickets for the 2009 WCC Basketball Championships go on sale. To purchase, call the LMU Ticket Office at (310) 338-LION.

Also this week will be the annual LMU Men's Basketball Tip-Off Lunch with the Crimson and Navy Scrimmage. The scrimmage is open to the public in Gersten Pavilion starting around 12:30 p.m. A luncheon will follow but tickets and advance RSVP is required. Contact the LMU Basketball Office at (310) 338-4504.

The promotional calendar will conclude with the signature event at LMU, Madness at Midnight. The event will be held in Gersten Pavilion on Friday, Oct. 24 at 10 p.m. The event is open and more information will be on LMULions.com.