For the third time in Marshall history, Hoops in Huntington took over Pullman Square as the athletes and coaches from the men’s and women’s basketball teams played for the community. 

“Hoops in Huntington has become a staple event for Marshall Athletics and is one of the most unique events you will see across the country,” said Ryan Crisp, the associate athletic director for annual Giving. 

“I think it’s huge for the community,” Women’s Basketball guard Peyton Ilderton said. “Just being involved and getting to know the kids is great. We are role models for a lot of kids, so we wanna be someone that they can look up to. I feel we represented ourselves in a manner to do just that.” 

The men’s and women’s basketball teams for Marshall feature a new head coach for the upcoming season. For the men, Cornelius Jackson looks to lead the team to success as a first-time head coach in college after a 13-20 record last year. The men’s team also added a number of new players to the squad and look to find success in an all new system and team. 

The women’s team, on the other hand, looks to repeat and improve upon another successful season after they went 26-7 and found themselves dancing in March Madness with their head coach Kim Caldwell leading the charge. Now, Caldwell is coaching for a new team, and a new coach by the name of Juli Fulks takes over and looks to find similar success this season. 

“I think coach Fulks is doing a great job,” Ilderton said. “What she is doing isn’t easy by any means, but she still shows up everyday to help us become better basketball players and people. I think she’s going to lead us to have a great season.” 

Both teams will look to have a very successful season this year, and Hoops in Huntington serves as a kickstarter for the season to come and an introduction for all the fans of Marshall Basketball to the new players and coaches.

Tariq Montgomery can be contacted at [email protected].