The men’s and women’s basketball teams hosted Screaming Eagles Madness Thursday night in preparation for their respective seasons. At this event, put on by the teams, USI Athletics, USI Student Government Association and Archie’s Army, students could win gift cards, a microwave and a 20-inch TV. In addition, chicken wings and other snacks were provided to attendees. 

The event kicked off with an awe-inspiring performance by the USI cheer team to build excitement for what the night had in store. Following this spectacle, a student could win a 20-inch television by shooting three half-court attempts. Unfortunately, he finished 0-3, nearly putting the third in. He did win some USI gear, so at least he didn’t go home empty-handed. 

Continuing with giveaways, there was another contest in which two students competed in a free-throw competition, where a $50 gift card was given away to whoever hit more free throws. 

Soon after, the lights went dark, and the jumbotron illuminated the entire arena. The main event was about to begin. 

First up, the women’s basketball team, reigning Ohio Valley Conference champions, entered the arena like a heavy-weight boxer a la Adonis Creed. Each player ran onto the court one by one to the raucous reaction of the Screaming Eagles in attendance. For the 10 returning players, this was their final time celebrating their accomplishments from last year because, going forward, the fans expect the team to repeat as champions, and it takes double the effort to remain at the top. 

Next up was the men’s basketball team, which will play with a chip on its shoulder following last season’s disappointing campaign. Much of the team comprises transfers who have not made their mark on the USI faithful. Tonight would be their chance to showcase their talents and perhaps their charisma. 

Following player introductions, both teams needed time to prepare for basketball activities, so they warmed up. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the in-arena DJ, who was on fire all night, mixing classics with today’s hits. However, he safely inserted his flag in the Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef for warmups by mixing Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” for the entire five-minute warm-up. There isn’t a more devious song to swish baskets and drop monster dunks as multiple players rapped while shooting around. 

While the players cooled off, the USI dance team entertained the USI fans with various impressive routines. The energy in the building kept rising, and it would be rewarded as both teams competed in a skills challenge. In the first round of competitions, Jack Campion, junior guard, had ice in his veins, hitting a half-court shot to win the skills challenge for team red. Next up was the three-point challenge. 

The three point challenge kicked off with two sharpshooters, Ali Saunder, junior guard, and Vanessa Shafford, senior guard, who went head to head in a shootout. Shafford ultimately took the first-round matchup by a score of 19-13. In the second round, Braxton Jones, junior guard, and Josiah Dunham, freshman guard, competed on the men’s side of the bracket. In a shocking upset, Dunham showed some significant shooting skill and ambition, beating Jones by a score of 16-10. 

Returning to the women’s side of the competition, Sophia Loden, sophomore guard/forward, took on Meredith Raley, graduate forward, in a close matchup, which saw Raley win with a score of 12-9. Next up was Jared Washington, junior guard, and Jack Mielke, senior forward. Despite Washington’s admirable performance, Mielke caught fire from deep, hitting 19 threes.  

The women’s three-point final was no contest as Shafford hit 21 three-pointers in a blaze of glory compared to Raley’s 12 threes. 

The men’s final would prove to be much closer. In a shootout for the night, Dunham hit 21 threes — an excellent performance. However, Mielke was on an even higher level, hitting 22 threes to beat him by a single point, a finale that had the entire audience in disarray. 

After an electrifying three-point shootout by both teams, a rest was needed. This quick rest saw the women’s volleyball and soccer players play a bizarro version of musical chairs where each contestant had to “dribble” down the court when the music stopped, score layups and dribble back to their seats. I put dribbles in quotation marks because not much dribbling was done, to the point where even NBA referees would have to call travels. 

However, an unforeseen event completely undone this global tour of traveling.

In the final round, two contestants remained, and when the music stopped, they dribbled to the baskets and hit layups. However, one contestant wanted the prize more than the other and made a significant, almost James Harrison-esque hit on her opponent, going for the final chair. To say that many in attendance and myself fell out of our seats would be an understatement. At that point, it was the highlight of the night. 

It would be hard to raise the roof after that, but the dunk contest tried its hardest to do so. To begin the contest, it did not look as if it would be the case, as the first dunker, Jayland Randall, junior guard, had a bit of trouble completing his dunks, as he was attempting 360-degree slams, which are extremely tough to complete. Unfortunately, time was running against him, as all participants were given a limited time to complete their slams, so Randall had to settle for a two-handed rim grazer, which the judges gave a 13/50, which I would agree with. 

The next two contestants were more successful in their attempts. Stephen Olowoniyi, sophomore forward,  completed an athletic reverse jam, which I gave an 8, but the judges gave it a 36/50 (slightly less than an 8/10). 

However, Damoni Harrison, junior guard, really upped his game on his first dunk, as he completed a through-the-legs slam, which sent the crowd into a frenzy. I gave it a 10/10, while judges believed it was close to that, with a 46/50. 

For the final round, Olowoniyi and Harrison would showdown with two excellent dunks. Olowoniyi completed a one-handed jump, which saw him hang on the rim by his elbow — something that takes a great amount of strength. I believed it was a 9/10, but judges considered it a 40/50, around the 8/10 range. 

Harrison also completed a challenging dunk: an alley-oop off the side of the backboard —  a tomahawk jam that made the crowd erupt. Personally, I thought it was around the 9/10 range, but the judges gave it a perfect score of 50, making Harrison the 2024-2025 Screaming Eagles dunk champion. 

For the final event, both teams faced off head to head in a dance competition. I gave the women’s team 1-5 odds of winning this competition, considering their dominant past in this competition. The guys would have 20-1 odds of completing the upset. 

The men’s team opened up nicely, as Campion and Washington had tight dance moves out of the gate. Unfortunately, the second and third songs did the guys no favors, especially the third song, which was a slow dance song. Overall, I gave the guys a 6/10, mainly because of Campion and Washington.  

The women’s team played up to the theatrics and didn’t disappoint. They danced to songs like “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” by the Dropkick Murphys, “The U” by Uncle Luke and “Thriller” by Michael Jackson. The crescendo of the performance was when Triniti Ralston, sophomore guard, twerked. They even ended with firing money from money shooters. I gave them a 10, and the crowd agreed with me. When voting was done, courtesy of crowd noise, the women won almost unanimously. 

Screaming Eagles Madness was a great event, from top to bottom. I think the fans and players alike were absolutely engaged and buzzing. I am very impressed by the work SGA, USI Athletics and Archie’s Army have done to garner interest and support for all the USI athletic programs. This night, perhaps, could be a sign of things to come for the basketball season for both teams. With the energy of the crowd and both of these teams, playing in the Screaming Eagles Arena could be a real challenge for any team that steps foot on this ground.