Thousands of 5th-graders howl for the Seawolves in victory as men’s basketball wins season opener

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - School was in session for thousands of Anchorage fifth-graders on Friday and their only assignment; howl for the home team.

“Today is one of the best days of the school year, I think,” said ASD Chief of Schools Kersten Johnson. “[This is] to just really raise awareness of what future possibilities there are for students, to introduce them there to our hometown university, really emphasize that if you go to school and you make good choices, that you could end up here playing for your home team.”

All 2,800 charged-up students passed with flying colors, bringing an energy to the Alaska Airlines Center that is rarely matched.

“Electric, it was a great atmosphere,” University of Alaska Anchorage head coach Cameron Turner said.

“This is what college basketball should feel like.”

Propelled by ear-piercing cheers, the UAA men’s basketball team ran away with a 94-65 victory over Evergreen State in the team’s season opener.

“I mean, it was kind of hard to find energy for an 11 a.m. game, but luckily these kids were here,” Seawolf senior Sylas Williams said. “It’s a good start for a new coach, pretty much a whole new team too ... we all contributed, it wasn’t like anybody scored a lot, it kind of put us on a good note and a good start.”

Five former students of an Anchorage elementary school stepped on the court for the Seawolves, playing as alum and representing their old stomping grounds.

“Growing up in Anchorage is just super special, being able to give back to the community,” said UAA guard Luke Johnston, a Kincaid Elementary and Dimond High alum.

“I know I was in the position of a lot of these fifth-graders and so showing them that they can do great things as well and that we have an awesome university that can provide them experiences is something that’s super special and I just want to let them know that they can do great things, they can do more than we’ve done and so I’m just hoping we can pave the way for them.”

A field trip to remember for both the students and players, as the college athletes were swarmed by students after the game with towels and markers.

“Just being able to give back to the community is just always a blessing of mine,” said UAA guard Muhammed Sabally, who attended Nunaka Elementary and East Anchorage High School.

“I was once them in their shoes, coming to games like this, just hoping for an autograph, sometimes you don’t get it, but just being able to give back, sign as much as I can. Just seeing them happy makes my day.”

The players stayed and signed autographs until the final bus of students left campus.

“It’s just important because all these kids came here, they were cheering their hearts out,” Williams added. “This means a lot to them and it also means a lot to me, so I got to make sure to get as many kids as I can as possible.”

The win marks the first for new head coach Cameron Turner, who takes over on the sidelines for Rusty Osborne, who occupied the position for 22 years before relinquishing the reigns in February.

“What the players get out of this is like where they came from,” Turner said. “They once were, not that many years ago, they were here. And like the joy of the game, that’s one of our four pillars is is joy. We talked about having joy in the game and and have that to show these kids.”

Williams (Bothell, Washington) finished with 17 points and a career-high 16 rebounds while Mack Keighran (Melbourne, Australia) had 16 points and five assists in his Seawolf debut.

The two teams will tip-off for game two Saturday at 4:15 p.m. at the Alaska Airlines Center.

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