Somewhere on Elon University’s campus lies a cape, two lawn chairs and some basketballs. It sounds like something you’d picture in a toddler’s play room, but those objects took on a new meaning March 1.

With the Elon men’s basketball team playing host to perennial power Davidson College at 7 p.m. in Alumni Gym, those objects were a testament to the power of sports in uniting a group of people. In this case, it was a student body.

In front of the student entrance at the south end of Alumni Gym, hundreds of students waited outside to secure a seat to see four seniors who have taken Elon to new heights in their four years on campus. On their senior night, everyone was there. From seniors to freshmen, from die-hards to those who couldn’t tell you what a 2-3 zone is, they were there.

As moans and groans from the fall about football attendance were still prevalent in students’ minds, it seemed like a revolution. More than anything, that’s what has occurred over the past four years in regards to Elon basketball.

At the front of the line stood three seniors, Jeff Stern, George Adams and Ben Naughton, who set up shop at the student entrance of Alumni Gym at approximately 11 a.m. that morning in a pair of lawn chairs. The trio took turns switching off, going between various Elon athletics events on campus that day.

“It was a ‘why not?’ scenario,” Adams said. “We were considering camping out if it was warm.”

In the shades of the famous Krzyzewskiville at Duke University, the three couldn’t have been more thrilled for basketball. That’s saying something, considering Stern said he was “dragged” to one game during his freshman year.

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The three said they felt a personal connection with the players despite not knowing them. According to Naughton, it’s just one benefit to a small school like Elon.

“You actually feel like you know the players,” Naughton said. “That’s something you don’t get at larger schools.”

They went on to describe a day-and-night change from what basketball games were like their freshman year. Jokes were directed at Adams, who enjoys shaking hands with head coach Matt Matheny after games.

“Matheny’s kind of personality is contagious,” Naughton said.

It was Matheny himself who came to Elon in 2009, striving to make basketball games the place to be on Saturday nights. He rekindled memories of hearing his wife having a normal conversation on the other side of the gym because of how few people were there and how quiet the place was.

So what he saw when No. 16 University of Massachusetts came to town Jan. 18 and for the Davidson game was not only satisfying, but remarkable in more ways than one.

“Our dream was for this ticket to be the toughest ticket in town,” Matheny said. “We said that for about two to three years. Guess what? Tonight was the toughest ticket in Alamance County. Maybe the toughest ticket in the history of Alamance County.”

One person who’s had a ticket to every home game since he was a freshman is senior Pete D’Abrosca, deemed Elon’s “Super Fan.” Dressed in his trademark cape and wig, he stands in Section 2, Row 1, Seat 12 and yells his heart out for 40 minutes of Elon basketball all winter.

From the time he set foot on campus as a freshman, he said he’s seen the transformation of the culture surrounding sports from the perspective of a student. As a campus tour guide, it makes his life easier.

“One question I’m asked consistently is, ‘Do kids go to games?’” D’Abrosca said. “From freshman year, it’s changed from ‘Well, not really,’ to ‘Yeah, it’s getting better,’ to ‘Yes, absolutely.’”

Though D’Abrosca will graduate in May, the wig and cape will stay in Alumni Gym and the Delta Upsilon fraternity. The garments were passed down to D’Abrosca on his bid day freshman year, and will now be in their fourth generation when current freshman Logan Quackenbush sports them next year.

How did Quackenbush receive such a high honor? It was an easy transition, D’Abrosca said.

“I was planning on passing them down to someone in our pledge class,” he said. “[Quackenbush] was out here like two hours before the UMass game. Right then, I knew he was the kid. As soon as he walked in and accepted his bid, I threw the cape and wig on him.”

But beneath it all, the cape and wig would be meaningless if the person wearing them didn’t have someone to cheer for.

The senior basketball players — Jack Isenbarger, Sebastian Koch, Lucas Troutman and Ryley Beaumont — have provided thrills and excitement for nearly four years. They’ve won more games (68) than any other Elon class during its Division I era. Isenbarger holds the school record for 3-pointers, while Troutman sits ninth on Elon’s all-time scoring list.

But there weren’t always big cut-out heads of them in the student section. Beaumont recalled meeting a member of the pep band on move-in weekend as a freshman and learning what the atmosphere was like in Alumni Gym.

“She told me, ‘Yeah, games are fun; nobody really comes, but they’re still fun,’” Beaumont said.

In four years, that’s changed quite a bit.

“You reverse that to looking out there tonight,” Beaumont said, “with people being there so early, it’s something special that we built while we were here.”

As those students waited outside, two men, seemingly alumni, strolled by with smiles on their faces.

“This is good sign!” one of them said.

That it is. Elon men’s basketball has been revitalized on this campus.