Tops Serve Lunch to 100-Plus WKU Students at Stansbury's House

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BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Jared Savage was in charge of napkins. Josh Anderson handed out plates.

Desean Murray and Marek Nelson provided hot dogs, Jake Ohmer and Taveion Hollingsworth added condiments, Tolu Smith and Dalano Banton were in charge of chips, Lamonte Bearden and Jeremiah Gambrell handled cookies, and Moustapha Diagne and Charles Bassey passed out beverages.

Matt Horton, Carson Williams and Patrick Murphy were on greeter duty.

At WKU Hilltopper Basketball head coach Rick Stansbury's house Sunday, every Hilltopper player stood behind a buffet table in an apron, serving lunch to 100-plus WKU students, including members of the Rick's Rowdies group and the WKU spirit groups.

"It's definitely a blessing to meet such wonderful people," freshman forward Tolu Smith said. "It's a great environment to be in. Our fans are great, so it was nice to finally meet them in person."

The event was spearheaded by Stansbury, who did the same thing annually as head coach at Mississippi State.

The idea is to bring the WKU students who are members of Rick's Rowdies closer to the team, and to teach the Hilltopper players servant leadership as they interact with the fan base.

The large gathering sprawled through Stansbury's backyard and even throughout his house later for a guided tour provided by the head coach. Outside, the WKU players mingled at tables with the students, chatted and went out in the driveway to play basketball.

"It's really nice to see that people watch us and are anxious for the season to be here," sophomore guard Taveion Hollingsworth said. "… It shows that that they want to see more than just an athlete. There are people here that we don't know, but now they see how we usually are during the day."

The cookout at Coach Stansbury's house was one of just several benefits for members of the Rick's Rowdies student group.

Other perks of the free membership include 15-minute early entrance to games to get the best seats, a Nike T-shirt, access to select practices and more.

Students interested in signing up can simply text WKU Athletics at 1-800-524-4733.

Josh Thomson, a freshman student from Louisville, Ky., attended the cookout Sunday and was also selected to participate in a contest Thursday night at Hilltopper Hysteria as a Rowdies member. Thomson netted a halfcourt shot on his first try, winning free pizza for a year from Overtime Sports Bar & Grill.

Thomson said getting to spend time with the players away from the basketball court has been one of the most interesting parts of joining Rick's Rowdies.

"They're not as serious and just focused on basketball as you think they would," Thomson said. "They have their own personal lives and like to joke around, so it's a good time. They're just a regular student. It's been great."

Tops Serve Lunch to 100-Plus WKU Students at Stansbury's House

Players Mentioned

Josh Anderson

Dalano Banton

Charles Bassey

Lamonte Bearden

Moustapha Diagne

Jeremiah Gambrell

Taveion Hollingsworth

Matt Horton

Patrick Murphy

Marek Nelson

Jake Ohmer

Jared Savage

Tolu Smith

Carson Williams

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