This season, Charles Koch Arena will prepare to have its maximum attendance capacity of 10,506 fans pushed to the absolute limit with an ever-changing ocean of energetic, passionate sports fans.

The Sunflower asked assistant director of facilities, Brad Pittman, to talk about the do’s and do not’s of how to behave inside the arena.

“As the season gets going, we hope we’re going to be just as successful, if not more so than last year, but we want to prevent bad situations before they happen,” Pittman said.

Now in his eighth year as assistant director, Pittman, who counted profanity and intoxication as the top behavioral problems in the arena, has dealt with his share of overly passionate fans, but insists things rarely get too out of control.

“I don’t recall anything too major; it’s just that we get people who don’t get it,” he said. “They want to show up drunk, throw things on the court and ruin the experience for others. Those situations are usually handled with a warning at first, but we will not hesitate to remove you from the arena.”

In order to avoid being thrown out, Pittman said the rules are lenient, as long as those in the arena practice common sense and possess the ability to balance their passion for the game with respect for those around them.

“We want people to remember common sense. You can cheer as loud as you want, but when you start getting into words, that’s when lines get crossed,” he said. “You can have fun without being profane. Negativity doesn’t get anybody anywhere.”

As long as common sense is being followed, the fans have as much freedom as they can muster as they cheer on the basketball team to the Final Four and beyond.

“We know that people are passionate about this,” Pittman said. “We want you to be loud. We want you to be rambunctious, but we also just want you to be quality people.”