In its second year, the Club Basketball Team has its targets set on the NIRSA National Basketball Championships next April at North Carolina State University after a successful turnout during tryouts.
“I’m really surprised by the number of talented players who showed up for tryouts this year,” Brian Davis, president of the club, said.
According to Davis, approximately 25 people tried out for the club this year. The club chose to only take seven of those people because Davis did not want too many people to be on the team and not have the chance to play.
“Thirteen people from our team last year are coming back, so we had limited spots for interested players,” said Davis.
Davis started the basketball club last year after he transferred from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
He managed to gather 25 people in a short span of two months to launch the team, and they finished at an impressive third place in the first tournament they competed in at Florida Atlantic University.
Since then, they have competed in multiple tournaments around the region, including Nationals last year. Davis coaches the team personally.
Last year, the main obstacles that the club faced were financing and transportation. The Club Sports Program provided the club with a venue to train, but not a mode of transportation to get to other universities for matches and tournaments. As such, the members had to carpool and pay out of their own pockets to fund the trips. This year the Club Sports program bought vans for the club.
Ronnie Braithwaite, treasurer of the club, said he was exited that they got vans this year.
According to Braithwaite, the club also held some fundraising events earlier this year. The money collected will go great lengths in helping the club purchase new equipment as well as financing the expenses incurred in traveling around and competing.
The team trains every Monday and Wednesday night in the indoor courts on the second floor of the Wellness Center.