Men’s Basketball on Display at PREseason FUNKtion
PULLMAN, Wash. – The Washington State University men’s basketball team opened its season in style as it held its first PREseason FUNKtion, Saturday, Oct. 11 at Bohler Gym on the campus of WSU.
The event, which attracted a late-night crowd with doors opening at 8:30 p.m., opened up with dueling DJs, DJ Goldfinger and DJ Royal, getting the fans pumped up for a night of meeting the team, dancing and prize-winning. Prizes, including an Xbox 360, Playstation 4, Beats by Dre, an Apple iPad Mini and $500 for textbooks were given away immediately and donated by first-year head coach, Ernie Kent.
The crowd then got to meet the entire 2014-15 team, featuring six newcomers and three seniors, as well as the coaching staff, including Kent. Following some more dueling DJ time and a performance by the Crimson Girls, the team strutted its stuff as the team members performed skits and dances in three groups.
The first group consisted of Dominic Ballard, Brett Boese, Marcus Graham, Que Johnson and Jordan Railey dancing to numerous 90’s and 80’s songs, while dressed up from the era, finishing off with the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song and the ‘Carlton Dance’.
The next group including Jackie Davis, Ike Iroegbu, Valentine Izundu, Dexter Kernich-Drew and Ny Redding had their own choreographed dance to songs such as ‘Party in the USA’. The ‘talent portion’ by the student-athletes ended with a ‘Making the Band’ skit by Aaron Cheatum, Trevor Dunbar, Josh Hawkinson, DaVonté Lacy and Junior Longrus.
After the student-athletes showed their talents, Kent surprised everyone with a dance to ‘The Hustle,’ in which he was joined by the Crimson Girls. He addressed the crowd and expressed how important it is to have them support the team at Beasley Coliseum during the season.
WSU fans got to see their first glimpse of the 2014-15 Cougars on the court as the team scrimmaged itself, split into teams of two. The 22-minute scrimmage was a close one, with just three points separating the two teams. Lacy and Johnson picked up where they left off last year, hitting 3’s, while Izundu showed his blocking ability, Dunbar showed his point guard skills and Kernich-Drew showed what a difference four years makes.
A Greek dance-off ended the night with a fraternity and sorority each winning money for their philanthropy. Kent provided the money for the dance-off prize.
The Cougars will host Azusa Pacific in exhibition action, Friday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. at Beasley Coliseum, before opening the season at UTEP and TCU, Friday, Nov. 14 and Monday, Nov. 17, respectively.