When basketball fan Tyler Knowles scanned the crowd around him during men’s basketball games at Lloyd Noble Center last season, more often than not his search ended in disappointment.

The four other students who accompany Knowles to games in an unofficial entourage are usually just as discouraged.

It wasn’t because when they looked into the stands they saw people who had forgotten to wear a crimson or cream-colored shirts.

It was because when they looked into the stands, they simply didn’t see a lot of people.

“Student attendance was really bad last season,” said Knowles. “We got really tired of seeing it.”

Knowles, fellow Sooner fan Geoff Hauger and two other students took it upon themselves to boost awareness of the games and improve the atmosphere inside the arena.

“The four or five of us were regulars, going in really early before the games,” Knowles said. “We put out the newspapers for opponents’ introductions and would blow up balloons to put in the student section.”

The group started to call themselves the OU Basketball Attendance Task Force, and when they weren’t at the games they were chalking on campus, putting signs out and passing out flyers—all in an attempt to remind people there was a game coming up.

Despite their small numbers, the “task force” caught the attention of several members of the coaching staff, who had been working during the summer to change the location of the student section inside Lloyd Noble and to adjust the pricing for season tickets.

“We’ve been able to work with the coaching staff the past couple of months,” Hauger said. “They’re readily available and like our help. They loved our support and the energy it brought to the games.”

Knowles and Hauger, in conjunction with several coaches, created a Facebook group and passed out an estimated 4,000 flyers on freshman move-in day in order to recruit more students to help with their efforts.

At the group’s first meeting Tuesday, Knowles estimated they now have about 65 new students—enough to become a university-recognized social group.

Several coaches and the majority of the men’s team — including star forward Blake Griffin and prized freshman Willie Warren — were on hand at the group’s meeting to let the new students know how much of a difference attendance actually made.

“It’s really up to this group to get it going,” said director of operations Bryan Goodman. “The students drive our attendance. They create our atmosphere.”

Realizing their prominent role in the upcoming season, members knew the group needed a name to go with the faces in the crowd.

“We’re not trying for the type of recognition like Duke’s Cameron Crazies, but we needed a name,” said senior Kyle Bohanan.

Players and students voted among several possible candidates, but the wining name — The Capelables — was an overwhelming favorite.

Now armed with a name, a sizeable amount of students and the support of players and coaches, the Capelables plan on working just as hard as the team does during the weeks leading up to the season.

Knowles said he has different committees set up to work on different aspects of game promotions and atmosphere.

For example, one group will be in charge of painting fans’ faces at the entrance to the student section, while another will post signs alerting students of the upcoming game.

“We’re also trying to focus on getting freshmen to help us out,” Knowles said. “A lot of us are older guys, so we want freshmen leadership so we can keep this thing going.”

In the end, however, the founders of the Capelables still have one main goal in mind, and all they have to do to be reminded of it is remember the empty seats they frowned upon last season.

“It’s just like a big promotion,” Knowles said. “We just want to get the word out there about the games and get more students to show up to the games.”

The Capelables efforts come close on the heels of the Athletic Department’s announcement that students can receive partial or full refunds of ticket purchases depending on how often they attend.

Students who attend 14 OU home games will receive a $50 rebate, while those come to 16 home games will receive a full refund.

All of these efforts have been instituted in an attempt to drive more fans to games, which has been one of head coach Jeff Capel’s main goals since arriving at OU.