The annual Full Court Fest, which is held as the kick-off for the men’s and women’s basketball team seasons, included several student competitions, free shirts and food.
The party and auxograph signing was held in the University Center on Wednesday, Oct. 30 and began by giving students the opportunity to meet the teams and get autographs at 6:30 p.m.
“Today’s a special day,” said Taylor Mims, a junior majoring in exercise science and member of the Lady Lions basketball team. “We get to meet the fans and just show them a bit about our team and show them how exciting we’re going to be in the future.”
Both returning and new Lions basketball players were excited to showcase their skills and meet the fans at the event.
“It feels great to just be a part of this team,” said Dre Evans, a junior college transfer on the Lions basketball team. “We’re going to do big things this year. I’m excited that the fans came out. We’re getting a lot of love.”
After the autograph signing, the Southeastern Lionettes, cheerleading squad and pep band performed while free shirts were catapulted into the crowd.
One of the games at Full Court Fest was a shooting contest, where a few students tried to out-shoot Lion and Lady Lion team members.
John Legrange, an undecided freshman, was one of several students chosen to participate in the shooting contest.
“It was really fun and cool to compete in the shooting contest here,” said Legrange. “I enjoyed it. I won a booksack and a free pizza. I really liked it.”
Another competition that took place was a $5,000 cash crawl, in which four blind-folded students crawled around the court picking up as much cash as they could.
The program concluded with coaches Jim Yarbrough and Lori Davis Jones personally thanking the students for coming out to the event and pushing for students to continue coming out and supporting the teams.  
“I enjoyed myself at Full Court Fest,” said Maci Washington, a sophomore majoring in early childhood education, who attended the event with a group of friends. “I think it was awesome, and it will definitely make me come to more games this year.”
Students are encouraged to go to the University Center and support the men’s basketball team at their first home game on Wednesday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. against Millsaps College and the women’s basketball team at their first home game on Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. against the University of Mobile.