On Wednesday, Nov. 12, the Shepherd Rams kicked off the 2014-2015 basketball season with HoopFest. Over 100 students, faculty, and community members came out to support both the men’s and women’s basketball teams.
The event included a student versus faculty game, which resulted in a close win for the students, three point and shooting stars contests, and a dunk contest. The dunk contest included some gymnastics skills from sophomore forward Mike Reed and table jumping from sophomore guard Naim Muhammad. It was a very close contest, but Muhammad was the crowd favorite.
The event was planned completely by students. It was part of a group project for Campus Recreation and Event Management. The students were responsible for marketing the event, planning logistics, and recruiting participants. “There was a lot of work involved, but we pulled it off,” said Jared Farmer, a student on the planning committee.
With such a large turnout, it can be expected that future basketball games will have strong attendance. “We had a lot of people come out and they all seemed to have a great time,” said Dillon Regalia, another student on the planning committee, “if they enjoyed the event as much as we enjoyed planning it, then I think it was a huge success. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that we are now really excited to see the teams take the court this season.”
Fans can catch both of the Rams’ teams in action at home on Monday, Nov. 24 against West Virginia Wesleyan.