On Jan. 15, the men’s and women’s basketball teams will compete against the Barry University Buccaneers in back-to-back games.
Both games are the first Sunshine State Conference home games of the semester. The women, currently ranked fourth in the country, will start at 5:30 p.m. A half hour after the women’s game ends, the men’s basketball team will play against Barry’s 25th nationally ranked men’s team.
Manager of Athletic Communications Eugene Canal said winning the games is important to both teams as advancement in the SCC is determined by how many home games a team wins.
“If you don’t win your home games, you don’t have a chance of succeeding in the conference, so every home game is very important,” Canal said. “You play every team in the conference twice — one home, one away, so the goal is to win your conference home games.”
Before the game, Athletics will host a free tailgate at 4:30 p.m. in the Don Taft University Center Pit. Delta Phi Epsilon will offer face painting and Radio X will play music. There will also be food and basketball challenges.
Jennifer Bucknell, manager of marketing and promotions for athletics, said students have free admission to the game with their SharkCard. During halftime, students will have the chance to play a game to win a secret prize from Best Buy, one of the game’s sponsors.
“We’re trying to make this this semester’s homecoming game,” Bucknell said. “We want something for all the students to come back [to] and welcome [them] back to campus and kick off the semester the right way and have a good time.”
The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee has designated that night a Shark Night, encouraging all students to wear white to support the Sharks. Bucknell said that for NSU’s last game against Barry, students from Barry came to support their team, dressed in red and filled the visitor section of the arena.
“It’s our way of countering Barry being so close to us and so easy for them to come on over,” Bucknell said.
Student-Athlete Advisory Committee President and right-handed pitcher on the baseball team Roberto Baroniel, junior exercise science major, said Shark Night started out as an initiative for athletes to support athletes. The committee would choose one game in each of the sports and get other athletes to support the Sharks at that game.
Baroniel said Shark Night is now expanding to include other students, along with the local community. The committee members raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation by selling T-shirts at the game, and they get students excited at games by leading them in a “roller coaster.” For example, at the last Shark Night — the basketball homecoming game against West Liberty University on Nov. 15 — the committee reached out to Delta Phi Epsilon to host a canned food drive. Attendees who brought a canned food item received free admission.
“We have initiatives to build that bridge between student athletes and the rest of the student population,” Baroniel said. “Often times, we’re isolated. We want everybody to come out and support us. We want to be considered students first before athletes.”
Delta Phi Epsilon Special Events Coordinator Stephanie Rogers, junior biology major, said the sorority will host a contest called Holler for a Dollar during the game. The Athletic Department is going to give $150 to the student organization with the highest attendance at both games.
“It helps out both ways: you get school spirit and the organizations can afford things for themselves as well,” Rogers said.
The Delta Phi Epsilon and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee are also hosting a clothing drive at the game. Attendees who are not NSU students usually have to pay for a ticket. However, these attendees will receive free admission to the games if they bring one article of clothing. Rogers and Baroniel said SAAC and the sorority are still trying to determine where to donate the clothing.
During halftime, both games will also feature the first joint performances by NSU’s cheerleaders and the Sharkettes, the Athletic Department’s new dance team. Sharkettes coach Elizabeth DiBiase, assistant director for business, membership and marketing in the Office Campus Recreation, said both teams will be on the court doing moves at the same time in a combined, collaborative routine. The cheerleaders will be tumble and do stunts, while the Sharkettes will dance.
“Having them do what they each do respectively, like stunting, cheering and dancing, at the same time will be really stimulating and really entertaining for people to watch,” DiBiase said.
