It’s the biggest Illini photo opportunity involving pink T-shirts and basketballs.

And it’s probably the last.

When Illinois fans, coaches and players file into Assembly Hall around 9 p.m. Friday, they’ll get an annual taste of Illini Madness – the three-point shootout, the dunk contest and the team scrimmage.

But when the festivities call a timeout for a planned panoramic photo of the arena, marketing executives and head coach Bruce Weber will no doubt take a moment to look into the stands and admire the sea of pink. Keep your eyes peeled for a smile.

More than 12,000 pink T-shirts have been sold to serve as tickets to the event and Weber expects that number to reach between 15,000 and 17,000. Proceeds from the $7 shirt benefit Coaches vs. Cancer charities.

“We’ve had a great response with (the pink shirts),” Weber said. “I’m glad we did it. It’s caught on and it should be a fun night.

“Obviously it’s great to kick off the basketball season with celebration,” Weber said. “The players love it. It’s a thing they grow up dreaming about.”

A few months ago, the Illinois marketing department sat down to brainstorm ideas for what it could do to make this year’s Madness memorable. The idea it came up with first – the pink shirts – is the one it fell in love with.

“This was the original idea, yes,” said Elizabeth Klatt, assistant director of sports marketing. “We had a promotional meeting months ago to talk about what we could do to make Madness bigger and better. Teaming it with Coaches versus Cancer was a big thing for Coach Weber.

“When we brainstormed the idea – would people wear them, would we get a positive response from it – I think we all thought it would work.”

Despite the success of the marketing idea, Klatt said this would probably be the last time the department tried anything involving pink shirts and men’s basketball.

“We have no plans to do something similar next year,” Klatt said. “When we say it’s going to be a one-of-a-kind photo of Assembly Hall filled with pink we mean it. We want to be the only school to do something like this.

“The response has been terrific.”

Weber said he’s glad Chris Hanna, assistant athletic director of sales and marketing, came to him with the idea for the pink shirts.

“You got all the pictures of the Hall filled with the orange,” Weber said. “Now you’re going to have one picture with the pink. It should be impressive.

“It’s okay to wear pink.”