Hilton Coliseum is about to get a little louder and rowdier when students get their own niche in the arena next season, and “Hilton Magic” may be on its way back to the Big 12.

Last summer, the Student Alumni Leadership Committee and the Athletic Department partnered to follow the lead of basketball programs nationwide and create a student cheering section for the men’s and women’s basketball program.

“We’re trying to bring back the ‘Hilton Magic’,” said Dusty Villhauer, athletics promotion chairman for the Student Alumni Leadership Council.

Although the student section is a sure thing for next season, there are many details to still work out, including what to name the section, said Mary Zeigler, the athletic department’s director of marketing and promotion.

The price range, which Zeigler said will be affordable, is being debated, as well as the size of the section and where in Hilton it will be located. The details will be finalized after the basketball season when head basketball coaches Larry Eustachy and Bill Fennelly are available to give their input to the project.

“I think it’s an opportunity for [students] to show their support for basketball as well as have special seating,” Zeigler said. “It’s an opportunity for them to create a great atmosphere.”

The Student Alumni Leadership Council and the Iowa State Athletic Department are calling for students’ input on what the student section in Hilton Coliseum, which will be in place next basketball season, should be named.

The contest, which ends Monday, is open to students both at the mens basketball game Wednesday and online.

“In the mid-’90s … people used to say Hilton Coliseum was the toughest place to play in the Big 12,” said Villhauer.

“It had that Hilton Magic, and we need to get back to that so that when teams come in we can have an atmosphere that’s just impossible to play in.

“Students should be able to name the student cheer section,” he said.

“Fourteen minds [of the committee members] just don’t have the potential that the campus has for creativity.”

Student cheering sections are a staple of top basketball programs.

Duke has its “Cameron Crazies” and Michigan State its “Izzone.” The sections are seated close to the court, sometimes behind a basket or the opposing team’s bench where the students can best get under the rival team’s skin. Students wear the same shirts and have chants prepared for each game — for example, when Iowa’s Sam Okey stepped on to MSU’s court, the Izzone chanted “Ok-ey Ho-lic!”

The University of Iowa has its own cheering section — the “Hawk’s Nest” — which began four years ago when Steve Alford took over as men’s basketball coach.

Iowa was one of 20 programs that Iowa State’s athletics department consulted when planning ISU’s student section.

Kelly Robbins, who is a four-year Hawk’s Nest member and currently heads the Hawk’s Nest committee, said the group has increased the spirit and noise at the games.

She also said that the group’s enthusiasm can have its “ups and downs” depending on the team’s performance.

The Hawk’s Nest began with 300 members and grew to two thousand members, but has decreased in numbers this season, Robbins said.