“The next home game, the song’s playing, and the people around me are telling me, ‘Hey, you gotta get up!’ And I said ‘get up for what?’” “We went home, we had a good time and Marquette ended up winning against Villanova,” he said. The crowd and the students were ecstatic, and Smith proudly sat down at the end of the song, having conquered the friendly challenge. Both ESPN and the Bradley Center cameras focused on Smith for his first of many cameos. This had been going on for years at the time, and so I said, you know, ‘Why are the students the only ones who get up and cheer?’ Finally, one of the individuals next to me says, ‘Well, Rick, what’s holding you back?’” I’m looking at the students and kind of rocking my head (to the beat). “I was sitting next to friends, and we were in business suits. “They were playing the song, and the students were jumping up and down,” Smith explained. In the second half of every Marquette home game since 2007, Smith has risen to his feet and jumped with the students to House of Pain’s 1992 hit “Jump Around.” The first time Smith jumped was February 2007 in a game against Villanova. “Of course, at the time, no one had any idea or even would fathom that this would happen.” “It’s humorous to a certain extent,” Smith said. He had no clue he would later become an icon of the fan base. ![]() ![]() His name is Rick Smith , but you probably know him by his nickname, the “Jump Around Guy.” Smith, 65, has had season tickets to Marquette basketball games since 1971, his sophomore year at Marquette. What you don’t know is once or twice a week for about four months, he helps bring tens of thousands of fans to their feet at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. You might not think much of an environmental engineer who spends most of his day in a three-story office in Brookfield.
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