Oct. 12, 2007
NORMAL, Ill. -
With the official arrival of a new coaching staff on the men's side, and the reigning Jackie Stiles Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, Kristi Cirone, returning for her junior season for the Illinois State women's basketball team, the 2007 Redbird HoopFest brought show-stopping slam dunks and electrifying scrimmage action from both teams Friday night at Redbird Arena. The event marked the first time that fans of both teams could see the Redbirds in action as they prepared for their respective upcoming seasons.
The event started with head women's basketball coach Robin Pingeton addressing the crowd about her team's upcoming season.
"I feel very honored and blessed to be the head coach of the women's basketball team at Illinois State," said Pingeton. "It's an exciting time to be a Redbird, and we appreciate the support of all of our fans."
Head men's basketball coach Tim Jankovich spoke to the crowd about his excitement in beginning a new era for men's basketball at Illinois State.
"It was a great thrill to be named the coach here at ISU," said Jankovich. "Our team is hungry, and I feel that we're going to have a lot of fun this year throughout the season."
After hearing from each team's head coach, fans were treated to a three-point shooting contest that featured mixed teams of Redbird men and women. The team of junior guard Ashley Sandstead and sophomore-transfer guard Sead Odzic won the three-round three-point shootout, 14-13.
Following the three-point shooting contest, Redbird basketball fans were treated to one of the highlights of the night, as sophomore guard Osiris Eldridge, junior forward Mike Vandello and senior-transfer guard Chamberlain Oguchi competed in the slam dunk contest.
Oguchi gave Redbird fans a glimpse of his explosive on-court abilities with four show-stopping dunks that electrified the crowd. Oguichi's first two dunk attempts harkened back to the classic days of slam dunk contests, as he took bounce passes off the backboard for two-straight powerful dunks.
In the dunk-off, Eldrige led off with a running dunk up and over the right side of the basket for 36 points. Starting from half court, Oguchi brought the crowd to its feet with a monstrous flying dunk over teammates Emmanuel Holloway, Boo Richardson and Alex Rubin for a perfect score of 40 points to take the 2007 Redbird Slam Dunk Contest. Oguchi, a transfer from Oregon, will not be eligible to play this season, as he sits out the year in order to satisfy NCAA residence rules.
The ISU women's basketball team's scrimmage followed next, with the Black team winning, 19-11. Junior guard Brooke Singleton and sophomore forward Ashleen Bracey led both teams with five points apiece, including one three-pointer each. Singleton was 2-for-5 from the floor, while Bracey was a perfect 2-for-2. Senior forward Tamara Butler led the ISU Black scorers with four points on 2-for-3 shooting.
The fans got into the action in between scrimmages, as Redbird follower Thomas Blake took part in the "Fan Moneyball Challenge" for a chance to win $10,000. Blake's shot from half court landed just short of the basket.
Cheryl Leech, an ISU basketball fan, took home the Alamo II "Hot Shot Challenge" title.
The 2007 Redbird HoopFest concluded with the men's team's scrimmage. The ISU Red team took the game, 17-14, over the Black squad. The scrimmage featured two highlight-reel plays, as sophomore Dinma Odiakosa took an alley-oop pass from Richardson and dunked it into the basket, followed by another dunk later in the scrimmage from senior Anthony Slack.
The Illinois State men's basketball team opens its 2007-08 season Nov. 7 with a home exhibition game against Quincy at 7:05 p.m. from Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena. The Redbird women's basketball team begins its 2007-08 slate with a 2:05 p.m. game Nov. 3 home game against Northwest Missouri State.
