ETSU basketball showed off something old and something new at the second annual Bluenanza Thursday night.On a night when ETSU dished out free food (always a draw for penniless college kids) and free basketball, the hoop squads made their first public appearances for 2009-10 at the promotional event intended to raise public and student body interest for the upcoming season.

Those who came for the chow were also treated to a veritable smorgasbord of pre-season excitement. After getting a chance to meet the players, the audience witnessed intrasquad blue-versus-gold, 10-minute scrimmages from both the men and women.

Something old came in the form of veterans Siarre Evans, the Atlantic Sun’s preseason favorite for Player of the Year, and Bucs’ senior guard Mike Smith.

The pair didn’t disappoint. Evans racked up eight points and a rebound for the gold team, and Smith showed why he was the center of attention, draining a 23-foot 3-pointer and slamming home a tip-dunk when he crashed the middle of the lane through three gold team defenders.

Lady Bucs’ coach Karen Kemp addressed the newness factor before the action started.

“You may notice that this team has six freshmen,” Kemp said, smiling. “In case you haven’t been around me lately, you may notice that I have a lot more gray hairs on my head.”

However, the team played like they didn’t want to give her any more worries. Junior Tara Davis, dubbed by her coach as the team’s “sparkplug,” seemed to be practically everywhere on the court and in the 10-minute scrimmage, she accumulated eight points and a steal.

Tarita Gordon and Natalie Pickwell held down the blue team with nine and six points, respectively. Gordon also recorded one steal and one rebound. Sophomore Gwen Washington played a crucial role for the blue team with eight points of her own. The blue squad ultimately came out on top, 32-25, but of course there was no hostility between the two teams.

Another young face that shined was sophomore Jarvis Jones, who went on a hot streak with seven 3-pointers in a row in the three-point contest to secure his place in the finals and eventually take the victory with six threes in the last round.

In the scrimmage, the familiar Smith had great support from newer faces. Sophomores Isiah Brown and Adam Sollazzo cashed in with eight points apiece. Sollazzo also recorded four rebounds, and two assists to Micah Williams, who gladly flushed the lob passes down. The extra effort from the blue and gold sides eventually resulted in a 32-32 tie.

The new faces were upstaged by the familiar ones in the team-wide dunk contest. Junior Micah Williams shocked the crowd by receiving a pass off the back of the backboard from teammate Smith, and then defying gravity for another few feet to slam it down.

Perhaps the feat of the night was performed by another junior, 5-foot-9 De’Shaud Johnson. The crowd stood in awe as he called a child from the audience, then catapulted himself over the bewildered boy. As he dropped from the rim, the stands erupted to the sight of his hulking pose, and the judges all leapt to their feet, each holding up 10 fingers.

The event was a demonstration of abilities by both the men and women, and not only the upperclassmen. The seniors seemed as tenacious as ever, and although it was just a scrimmage, the work and desire showed off in the demeanor of every junior, sophomore and freshman that stepped on the hardwood.

This team has every chance of going as far, if not farther than last year; they have every opportunity to find their way back into the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments.

Author