Students are gearing up in blue and white to cheer on the men and women basketball teams as the well-anticipated season begins.
Both teams won their first games of the season with the men’s team winning against Saint Peter’s, and the women’s team beating Iona University. Students came prepared to appear on the jumbotrons with pom-poms and big head cut-outs of players.
Reece Hartman, a freshman political science major, said she admires Gabby Williams, a collegiate basketball player and a University of Connecticut alumni.
Hartman said even after she changed commitment in the athletic field after being a childhood basketball player, Hartman wanted to attend a university with Division 1 basketball.
“I wanted to go to a school where I could still get a taste of the sport I loved from the sideline,” Hartman said.
Lauren Udell, a freshman international relations major, said she still makes time to attend basketball games despite her busy schedule.
Udell said she is used to a busier atmosphere for college basketball games since growing up in Nebraska, where the sport is more popular.
“With fewer people, not only could I enjoy the game with great seats, but I was also featured on the jumbotron,” Udell said. “That was very rare back home.”
Mercedes Eisen, a freshman criminal justice major, said her first men’s Seton Hall basketball game was “engaging.”
“I enjoyed watching other students so involved with the event from the cheerleaders and dance team to the fun games in between quarters,” Eisen said.
Eisen said as much as she enjoyed the “back-and-forth” of the game, the plethora of entertainment in between halftime and timeouts made it even better.
Eisen said she is looking forward to games versus Rutgers since it’s Seton Hall’s rival school.
“My friends and I have created a post-game ritual where we go to the dining hall after the games to end the day with a late-night snack,” Eisen said.
Gianna De Meo can be reached at gianna.demeo@campus.shu.edu
