According to Fitz: This is Our House

Skills competitions. Dunks. Threes. Free chicken nuggets.

Stags basketball is almost underway.

This past Friday night, both the Men’s and Women’s basketball teams unofficially opened up their seasons with “Red Sea Madness” on campus at Alumni Hall.

The anticipation for the upcoming season was evident as Alumni Hall was near capacity, filled with screaming Stags.

The teams were introduced to a standing ovation by “Stags in the Stands” leaders Andrew McMahon and Frank Aquino as the night got underway.

Members of the men’s and women’s teams faced off in a timed skills competition as Taryn Johnson came away with the title, having finished the course with the lowest time.

The Three-Point competition also pitted members of each team against each other, and again one of the women’s team members came away with the victory over Sean Crawford.

The energy in the crowd was high all night, most notably during warm-ups and then again for the dunk contest.  Garden Catering was on hand as well to offer free food to all who attended the event.

Stags Yorel Hawkins, Keith Fields, Lyndon Jordan, Colin Nickerson, Ryan Olander and Warren Edney competed in the annual dunk contest, with Jordan walking away with the title.

Jordan’s highlight dunk came on a reverse dunk in 1970s style shorts that would have made John Stockton beam with admiration.

Coaches Ed Cooley and Joe Frager particularly seemed to enjoy themselves on the night.

Maybe it was due to the fact that practice can start full time now. Maybe they were happy with the near-capacity turnout.  Maybe it was both.

Whatever the case, both coaches seem excited and determined to lead their respective squads to the NCAA Tournament this March.

All in all, Red Sea Madness appeared to be a big success on all fronts, save for a handful of missed dunks in the dunk contest.

The mood and culture appear to be very positive.  Coach Cooley emphasized the need to support the teams as much as possible.

“This is our house”, proclaimed Cooley.  Will it be “our year” as well? Time will tell.

Check out the photo collage on page 27.