Tim McLeod and Mark Seglem weren’t going to be intimidated by a little bad weather Saturday morning as they left Wichita heading for Lawrence to watch the Kansas University men’s basketball team scrimmage.

“We missed all the water, but it didn’t matter,” McLeod said as he and Seglem sat in lawn chairs outside Allen Fieldhouse across from the entrance to Horejsi Center, where the scrimmage started at 4 p.m. Saturday.

McLeod, 37, and Seglem, 30, aren’t KU graduates. They’re just diehard Jayhawk basketball fans who were willing to get in the car at 4 a.m. in order to assure themselves a spot in tiny Horejsi, which seats 1,300 people. They arrived at 6:30 a.m. and found themselves first in line.

By 1 p.m. there were about 60 people with them, waiting for Horejsi’s doors to open.

There was no admission charge. Fans considered it a rare opportunity to whet their basketball appetites while waiting to see how the Jayhawks do next weekend on their late-summer Canada tour. They won’t get another chance to see their beloved Jayhawks in Lawrence until Oct. 15 at Late Night in the Phog.

“We’re here to see what the recruiting class looks like,” Seglem said.

A couple of hours after McLeod and Seglem settled in, Mike and Sandra Rider, Olathe, and their family parked themselves next in line.

“I’m really into KU basketball,” said Brooke Rider, 15, who admitted a special fondness for KU’s Christian Moody. She was accompanied by friend Samantha Ingram, 15, another Olathe basketball fan.

Tim McLeod, left, and Mark Seglem, both of Wichita, are at the head the line of KU fans waiting to attend a scrimmage featuring the KU men's basketball team. The two fans were the first in line at 6:30 a.m. Saturday for the 4 p.m. scrimmage -- the first of the 2004-05 season and an unusual summertime occurrence -- at the Horejsi Center.

Dylan Rider, 11, said he wanted to see how well his favorite player, guard J.R. Giddens, would do.

About 9 a.m. Kevin Cherveny, 48, Topeka, unfolded his lawn chair and settled down to wait behind the Riders. He wasn’t sure how many other chances he’d get to watch the Jayhawks in person.

“At this point I’m going to take any opportunity I have to see them,” he said.

The doors to Horejsi opened at 2:30 p.m. An hour later, there were still about 500 seats available, although people were still streaming in a few at a time.

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