Kansas University’s athletic department has modified the student/general admission-seating plan for men’s basketball games at Allen Fieldhouse.

According to KU senior associate AD Richard Konzem, the modification is designed to help maximize attendance and better meet concerns for fire safety by assigning specific seat locations in some sections of the south end of the fieldhouse previously identified as general admission/open seating.

Students can continue to camp for the prime student/general admission seats directly behind the KU bench, in the end zone bleachers and in the northwest corner of Allen Fieldhouse.

Additionally, students will have the option of purchasing reserved single-game tickets in several sections. More than 700 single-game reserved tickets in the third tier of the fieldhouse will be available during student coupon redemption by purchasing a reserved seat upgrade for an additional $5 or $10.

Student Senate and the athletic department will split the income from the student single-game reserved tickets. Student admission gates will continue to open two hours before tipoff, and public admission gates will open 11â2 hours before tipoff.

“What happened last year was, in some of the general admission seating areas, people tend to spread out,” Konzem said. “In a row of 20 seats, you’d get 16 in there and they spread out to be more comfortable. We were struggling to put the right number of people in the right number of seats.

“To solve that, you need more assigned or reserved seats. You are maximizing the number of people in the building. There also were concerns with the fire marshal, keeping the aisles clear.

“The second thing came out of it as we talked to the students  one of the common things we were hearing, especially with upperclassmen, was they didn’t have time to do the camping. Yet there is a big group that wants to do the camping.

“We identified sections row 12 and above in the third level. Students on a single-game basis can now redeem their coupon and for an extra $5 or $10 get a single reserved seat. They can show up 30 minutes before tipoff and have a reserved seat.”

Student body president Jonathan Ng approves of the plan, which in essence works this way: During the nine redemption periods in which students bring their all-sports ticket coupons to the ticket office to receive actual basketball tickets, they will be asked if they wish to pay $10 for the UCLA, Missouri, Texas, Arizona and Oklahoma State games, or $5 for the other games, for reserved seating.

“Essentially, it’s a way to get more students to the games, which sounds odd because all the games technically sell out,” Ng said. “Students buy tickets but don’t always go to the games. It’s also a service to students.”