(Photo By Flickr User soundfromwayout)
Illinois State fans will have the opportunity to get a close glimpse of the 2014-2015 Redbird Men's and Women's basketball teams at the annual Redbird Hoopfest happening on Thursday, October 16th, at 7pm in Redbird Arena. Doors open at 6:30pm and the event is free to the public.
Multiple new features in this year's event include Reggie's Slam Jam, a kid-only dunk contest, a scrimmage between students and coaches, and a shootout challenge, where ISU players team up with student participants.
Kids ages 12-and-under will have the opportunity to compete in Reggie's Slam Jam, where contestants will display their dunking skills on an adjustable youth-sized basketball hoop on Doug Collins Court. Parents can register contestants at Cherry Berry (503 S. Main Street, Normal, IL) prior to Hoopfest. During the event, the winning contestant will be selected by the fans in attendance and will receive a Cherry Berry prize pack.
Following the kids dunk contest, four previously selected ISU students will participate in a team shooting challenge. Each student will be teamed up with one men's basketball and women's basketball player. Teams will race to make a free throw, three-point and half-court shot before the other team. Succeeding the shooting challenge, additional previously-selected students will compete in a scrimmage against the coaching staffs of each team. Women's basketball head coach Barb Smith will coach the student scrimmage squad.
To close out the on-court action, each team will run a traditional 10 minute scrimmage to showcase the new talent on each roster this season. Both teams will hold an autograph session for fans at the end of the event, including the new 2014-2015 Men's and Women's basketball posters.
All student participants will be selected at random on-campus leading up to Hoopfest.
For more information on this year's upcoming event, give them a call at 309-438-8000 or go online to GoRedbirds.com for more details.
