Orange Krush releases developmental statement concerning on the road game

Daniel Zhou

Members of Orange Krush hold up newspapers at the men’s basketball game against Indiana on Jan. 19.

By Lika Lezhava, News Editor

Orange Krush is the University’s official student fan base. At every basketball game, a bright orange sea of students can be seen right next to the court, and everyone knows that it’s Orange Krush. 

Once during each basketball season, Orange Krush attends an on the road-road game, and this year, the fan base planned to go to a game at the University of Iowa. 

But on Feb. 1, Orange Krush released a statement saying otherwise. 

According to the statement, the University of Iowa Athletics department “invalidated all 200 tickets that the Orange Krush had legally purchased.”

Although the tickets were refunded, Orange Krush stated that they would still be losing $6,000 from their budget because the cancellation of the trip happened on such short notice. 

Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!

  • Catch the latest on University of Illinois news, sports, and more. Delivered every weekday.
  • Stay up to date on all things Illini sports. Delivered every Monday.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Thank you for subscribing!

The University of Iowa Men’s Basketball team released a statement on Twitter shortly after Orange Krush’s statement was released. 

The statement said that the Orange Krush tickets had been purchased “on behalf of the Boy and Girls Club,” and after following up with said organization and the ticket buyers, “(The Orange Krush) admitted to falsely ordering tickets under the non-profit organization. 

The University of Iowa also announced in this statement that the tickets that the Orange Krush had initially purchased are going to be donated to the Boys and Girls Club. 

A day after these announcements, KAMS, a local bar on campus, released a supporting statement.

The bar announced their full support to Orange Krush, stating that “KAMS will be donating $6,000 to the Orange Krush to cover (the) losses.” 

On Friday, The Orange Krush released a second statement, backtracking on its original one and admitting to misrepresentation.

According to the statement, Orange Krush “misrepresented (themselves) as another active charitable organization.”

They then continue to state that the Orange Krush “should have never placed blame on the Iowa ticket office and Director of Athletics Gary Barta.”

 

The Daily Illini will have more updates on the Orange Krush situation as the story continues to develop. 

 

[email protected]