GREEN BAY,
Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - The
first chance to see the 2011-12 Green Bay men's and women's basketball teams
will be Friday night, with Basketball Mania set for 9 p.m. at the Kress Events
Center. The season kick-off celebration is open to the public and all fans will
be granted free admission.
Events set for the night will include player
introductions for both teams, a men's slam dunk contest, a women's three-point
shootout and a shooting contest that will pit Green Bay head coaches Matt Bollant and Brian Wardle against a pair of students.
The slam dunk contest will include freshmen Josh Humphrey (Chicago, Ill.), Greg Mays (Chicago, Ill.) and Keifer Sykes (Chicago, Ill.) as well as
senior Jarvis Williams (Milwaukee,
Wis.). In a dunk contest during move-in day, the three freshmen put on a show
for fans. To watch the finals that day between Mays and Humphrey, click
here.
Celebrity judges for Friday's event will be headlined
by Green Bay Packers defensive end Jarius
Wynn, who has started three games this season for the defending Super Bowl
champions and is tied for 22nd in the National Football League with 3.0 sacks.
Wynn will be joined former Green Bay basketball player Cordero Barkley, women's basketball senior Hannah Quilling (Eau Claire, Wis.) and the team's mascot, Phlash
the Phoenix.
Competing in the three-point contest for the women's
basketball team will be juniors Adrian Ritchie
(De Pere, Wis.) and Lydia Bauer (Lake Zurich, Ill.).
Free t-shirts will be handed out to all UW-Green Bay students
in attendance, and WIXX 101 will be in attendance to play music with Average
Joe serving as the emcee.
It has already been a busy week for both teams, with
on-campus activities including a Breakfast of Phoenix Champions @ Dinner event
where players and coaches from both teams served dinner at the dining hall. The
Phoenix also hosted its annual media day on Tuesday at the Kress Center. For a
recap of media and to watch various videos from the event, click
here.
Bollant's women's squad has been practicing since Oct.
3 as the program prepares for its 2011-12 campaign. The Phoenix welcome back senior
Julie Wojta (Michicot, Wis.), who
was a second-team All-Horizon League performer a season ago, as well as Quilling,
Ritchie and junior Sarah Eichler
(Grafton, Wis.), who all started at least 16 games a season ago. Green Bay won
a school-record 34 games and advanced to the Sweet 16 a season ago. Green Bay
opens its season on Nov. 11 at North Dakota State.
Wardle begins his second season at the helm of the
men's basketball program. He will welcome back three starters in Williams and
sophomore Daniel Turner
(McCordsville, Ind.) and Alec Brown
(Winona, Minn.) but his roster that includes 10 freshmen and sophomores is the
15th most inexperienced in the nation. Brown, a 7-foot-1 sophomore center,
averaged 10.2 points per game a season ago as a true freshman. The Phoenix
opens its regular season on Nov. 11 against the University of Mary.
Season tickets, Pick 5 packages and single-game
tickets for both programs are currently on sale with the Green Bay ticket
office. For more information, please visit GreenBayPhoenix.com/tickets.
