New Oregon AD foots bill for students' tickets

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Incoming Oregon athletic director Pat Kilkenny is making friends with students in a hurry.

Oregon put 55 NCAA Tournament first-round tickets -- 10 percent of the Ducks' allotment of 550 -- on sale to university students Tuesday morning. A line of students camped overnight in hopes of securing one.

Kilkenny had noticed the line forming Monday night. So early Tuesday morning, he stopped by the group bearing coffee and pastries, and he paid for their tickets, which cost $56 each, out of his own pocket.

He also arranged to have a bus take the students to Spokane, Wash., where the third-seeded Ducks play 14th-seeded Miami, Ohio, on Friday. The school estimated the bus trip would cost $3,000 to $3,500, bringing Kilkenny's total cost to $6,000 to $6,500.

"As a former University of Oregon student, I can relate to the passion that they have exhibited for their school's basketball team and deem them to be an important ingredient in its success," Kilkenny said. "The excitement generated by our tournament appearance is shared by everyone, and I felt that students should be given the opportunity to witness it first hand."

Kilkenny takes over as AD on April 1.

In addition, Kilkenny said he was attempting to secure tickets for two more students who also spent the night in line but did not get tickets.

Should the Ducks advance to Sunday's second round, Kilkenny said he also would pay for those tickets, which would come to an additional $3,080.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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