Eastern Michigan alumni reasserted their basketball dominance, 60-54, over students Friday night in the fourth Alumni/Student Basketball Game, held at the Rec/IM building.
The game was organized by Keith Jason, Coordinator of Student Services, College of Technology, as a way to increase community involvement and give first-generation college students a chance to meet successful alumni.
“We want to give these students the opportunity to get together with alumni and network,” said Jason before the game.
It may have been an exhibition, but the players were taking it seriously. Ryan Prillman, who threw down a couple thunderous dunks in the second half, was on the Eastern Michigan basketball team from 1999 to 2003 and was not taking the students lightly.
“Obviously the students, this is the biggest game of their life. There’s no bigger stage for them all year to showcase their talents, so the main thing is for us to not underestimate these guys and come out from the very beginning to the end and just try to put them away because they’re going to be younger, more athletic probably, and they’ll have a lot more energy. We’re old guys,” said Prillman.
Prillman’s connection to the alumni game runs deep. He’s known Keith Jason for over 15 years.
“He was in college at the time as well and we just developed a friendship over the years. He asked me to do it, and I agreed,” Prillman said.
A new aspect to this year’s game was EMU basketball assistant coaches refereeing. Men’s varsity assistant coach Benny White was impressed with the teams’ effort.
“I thought they played with a lot of courage, a lot of energy. The students play probably more often than the alumni, but I thought for the most part it was competitive,” said White.
White’s main concern was keeping the players safe, but the coaches were giving the refs good-natured ribbing from start to finish.
“You can’t have sensitive ears. You have to stay focused. You know you’re going to make mistakes like they make mistakes. A few friends, fans, and some of the players heckled me. You have to laugh it off in the end, and don’t take it personally,” said White.
The alumni took advantage of their big height advantage, many of their players were well over six feet tall, to race out to a big lead in the first half. But the students used their superior speed and conditioning to tighten the game in the second half, coming up just six points short at the buzzer. The students’ leading scorer, senior Sidney Droughns, made a few head-turning plays.
“I used to hoop. I played over in the Moneyball ProAm over the summer. There's a lot of college, D-1, and pro players playing in that. That’s pretty fun. So I’m in better shape than most,” said Droughns.
Droughns from East Lansing played well but had plenty of respect for the alumni. “We got to see one of the recent former players a couple years ago, looks like he’s still in shape. So it’s fun to watch him still be able to run and get up and down the court a little bit.”
