Nov. 9, 2010
NORMAL, Ill. -
For the second consecutive season, the Illinois State Athletics Department has invited back some its former men's basketball letterwinners to serve as Redbird Ambassadors for each regular-season home game for the 2010-11 campaign.
Prior to tipoff, each of the Redbird Ambassadors will be available on the east side of the concourse to sign autographs and pose for pictures, before being recognized on Doug Collins Court during the game's first media timeout. As an added bonus this season, the department has produced a limited edition trading card series and the first 500 fans at each game will receive a free collector's card of the selected Redbird Ambassador for that particular game.
This season's group of Redbird Ambassadors spans over five decades of Redbird basketball. In November, Neil Plank will be on hand as Illinois State opens the season against SIU Edwardsville, Nov. 14. Randy Rice will return to Redbird Arena Nov. 17, while Gene Jontry, Casey Reid and Vince Greene will be honored at the three ISU games of the 2010 Global Sports Roundball Classic.
For the UNLV game on Dec. 1, point guard and three-time NCAA Tournament participant Michael McKenny will return to Normal, Ill., while ISU's No. 3-ranked all-time scorer Fred Marberry will be on hand Dec. 4, as the Redbirds host Montana State. Dom Johnson (Ohio), Dwayne Tyus (UIC) and Brett Gillan (Creighton) will close out the month of December.
In January, Dale White (Wichita State), Skipp Schaefbauer (Northern Iowa), Raynard Malaine (Evansville), Scott Fowler (Southern Illinois) and Blaine Royer (Drake) will each be back on Illinois State's campus.
Dave Schertz, another 1,000-point scorer and the school's No. 2 career rebounder, will be the Redbird Ambassador on Feb. 9 for the Indiana State game. To close out the season two members of the 1997 and 1998 NCAA Tournament teams return to Redbird Arena, as Kenneth Pierson will be back to campus on Feb. 12 for Missouri State, while Rico Hill will be on hand for the Bradley game on Feb. 22.
To order tickets for any Illinois State basketball game, please visit GoRedbirds.com, or contact the Illinois State Athletics Ticket Office at (309) 438-8000.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
