Otto the Orange unveiled his new and improved costume to the largest Carrier Dome crowd this season at the men’s basketball game against West Virginia on Saturday.

The Syracuse University mascot was rolled onto the court in a box before the game and jumped out to show 28,740 adoring fans his updated look.

Otto now flaunts a brighter orange peel, new sneakers, a different hat and blue gloves. The old Otto wore white gloves and a hat with ‘Syracuse’ written in a script typeface, while the new Orange wears a blue hat with just the letter ‘S’ and a Nike symbol on it.

Brian Spector, president of the SU Alumni Association, said he was not involved in the redesign of Otto’s costume but had received a few complaints in the last few months about its appearance.

‘Costumes get old. After a lot of years they need to be replaced,’ Spector said. ‘I think (the new ones) look pretty cute.’

Marc Donabella, associate director of athletics and marketing, told The Post-Standard on Saturday that Otto’s makeover was well received by the crowd.

Donabella could not immediately be reached for comment.

Meg Lane, freshman public relations major, said she really liked the new costume because it is a much brighter, updated look.

‘The old costume was looking rough around the edges,’ Lane said.

The block lettering that replaced the old, outdated script typeface was one characteristic Lane said made the costume look much fresher.

Mariesa Bittner, a sophomore public health major, agreed with Lane and said the updated look was something she and her boyfriend noticed right away.

But the Nike swoosh on Otto’s hat was one aspect of the costume Bittner said she did not care for. She said the logo on the costume seemed like too much advertising for the company and took away from Otto only representing SU.

egsawyer@syr.edu

Published on January 29, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Liz: egsawyer@syr.edu | @3sawyer