{"id":32143,"date":"2025-12-02T22:13:47","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T03:13:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www3.tusculum.edu\/news\/?p=32143"},"modified":"2025-12-03T00:23:48","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T05:23:48","slug":"greene-county-students-enjoy-mens-basketball-game-time-on-campus-during-special-event-at-tusculum-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www3.tusculum.edu\/news\/news\/2025\/greene-county-students-enjoy-mens-basketball-game-time-on-campus-during-special-event-at-tusculum-university\/","title":{"rendered":"Greene County students enjoy men’s basketball game, time on campus during special event at Tusculum University"},"content":{"rendered":"

GREENEVILLE<\/strong> \u2013 Pioneer Arena rocked as about 1,100 students descended on the facility to watch the Tusculum University<\/a> men\u2019s basketball team<\/a> play a game Tuesday, Dec. 2.<\/h3>\n
\"Classmates

Classmates pose with one of the prize winners at the game.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Students

Students have fun at the game.<\/p><\/div>\n

While this was a sporting event at its core, it was more than just about dunks and winning the game. It was an opportunity to give these elementary school and middle school students a chance to visit campus and further strengthen the relationships Tusculum has with Greene County Schools and Greeneville City Schools as well as with the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis game enables these kids to see the campus,\u201d said J.T. Burton, the head men\u2019s basketball coach. \u201cWe have our Reading with the Pioneers program, where we go to most of these schools. Through that program, they develop a personal relationship with our student-athletes. But when they come to Tusculum, they fully understand that the university has basketball teams and has a beautiful campus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burton said the event is also beneficial for the teachers, many of whom are Tusculum graduates. The game gives them a chance to return to their alma mater, which is particularly neat if they have not been back for a while.<\/p>\n

One of those alumni is Lyndsey Rowlands, who teaches fourth grade at Tusculum View Elementary. She graduated from the university in 2011 with a bachelor\u2019s degree in psychology<\/a> and later switched to the teaching profession. She was pleased the men\u2019s basketball program held this event.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really good that they invited the students to come here because a lot of our students will never get this experience again,\u201d Rowlands said. \u201cIt was a great day for them, and it was exciting to be part of the atmosphere, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

The students were into the game from the moment they arrived. They moved to songs such as \u201cYMCA\u201d when they played over the loudspeaker and displayed their excitement whenever the Pioneers performed well. The students were greeted with open arms, with public address announcer Mike Maggert giving each school a rousing introduction.<\/p>\n

\"Highland

Highland Elementary School students celebrate at the game.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Men\u2019s

Men\u2019s basketball players have fun with the 6-7 craze with Tusculum View Elementary students.<\/p><\/div>\n

Some of the students were able to participate in activities on the court during breaks in the action. Students were also able to get their faces painted, eat great food and mingle with the basketball players after the game. The players waded into the crowd and took photos with the students.<\/p>\n

Tusculum defeated The Crown College 127-72.<\/p>\n

Schools in attendance were Doak Elementary School, Tusculum View Elementary School, Baileyton Elementary School, Highland Elementary School, South Greene Middle School, West Greene Middle School and Chuckey-Doak Middle School.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of these kids have probably never been to a college campus or even to a basketball game in general,\u201d Rowlands said. \u201cFor them to come and be able to witness that and experience it themselves with their friends is really cool for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rowlands said it was nice for the alumni teachers to be able to tell their students that they went to college at Tusculum. She was a cheerleader at Tusculum and showed the students where she stood in the arena during the games. She has been back to campus for football games and other events, but this basketball game was the first time she had returned to the arena since she graduated. It was fun for her to reflect, and she sent messages to some of her former teammates about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe teams that were on the floor today are going to better their lives by going to college,\u201d Rowlands said. \u201cIt\u2019s cool to see that they\u2019re pursuing their passion and playing sports, but they\u2019re also here to get an education. It\u2019s neat for our students to understand that this college can be fun and a great experience for you. But you\u2019re also here to make your lives better and to go on after college with what you were going to do with your life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Fellow

Fellow students gather around two of the prize winners at the game.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Teacher

Teacher Cheyene Burrow, who won a prize, is surrounded by students.<\/p><\/div>\n

Another alumna who teaches fourth grade math at Tusculum View is Cheyene Burrow. She graduated from the university in 2016 with a bachelor\u2019s in elementary education<\/a> and returns to campus as often as she can. She had a similar perspective to Rowlands.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday was awesome,\u201d Burrow said. \u201cI really enjoyed it, and the kids did, too. They were able to cheer and meet the players, and they just really loved the experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

She believes an event like this one helps plant the seed for these students that college is something to which they can aspire in the future. She said the event makes them aware of all of the possibilities that await them in the future.<\/p>\n

Caroline Gray, a sixth grader at West Greene Middle School, said she enjoyed attending the game, particularly when the players visited with the students afterward. This was not her first time to the campus. She said she came for a fifth grade leadership class.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty exciting to be on campus to see what our future will be like,\u201d Caroline said.<\/p>\n

Carrie Aldridge, who teaches sixth grade English and language arts at West Greene, is another Tusculum alumna. She graduated in 2004 with a degree in elementary education K-8. She seconded Caroline\u2019s comments about the joy of interacting with the players and commended the team for the way it handled that situation.<\/p>\n

She saw definite value in bringing the students to campus.<\/p>\n

\"Tusculum

Tusculum University basketball player Bryce Jackson greets students in the stands after the game.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"This

This girl enjoyed having her face painted.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWhen you put students in situations that they\u2019re normally not in and they can see a variety of things going on, then that opens their horizons to many different aspects of what they can do when they get older. They can do anything that they want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Scott Hummel, the university\u2019s president, said Tusculum welcomed the opportunity to host the students and their teachers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe value our connections with the community and are proud to be part of Greene County, Greeneville and this region,\u201d he said. \u201cEven though these students are several years away from college, it is good for them to know that higher education is an important component of future success. Tusculum transforms the lives of students through active and experiential learning in a caring Christian environment that prepares them to be career-ready professionals. We would be pleased to help these students achieve their academic and professional dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n

More information about the university is available at www.tusculum.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GREENEVILLE<\/strong> \u2013 Pioneer Arena rocked as about 1,100 students descended on the facility to watch the Tusculum University<\/a> men\u2019s basketball team<\/a> play a game Tuesday, Dec. 2.<\/h3>\n

While this was a sporting event at its core, it was more than just about dunks and winning the game. It was an opportunity to give these elementary school and middle school students a chance to visit campus and further strengthen the relationships Tusculum has with Greene County Schools and Greeneville City Schools as well as with the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis game enables these kids to see the campus,\u201d said J.T. Burton, the head men\u2019s basketball coach. \u201cWe have our Reading with the Pioneers program, where we go to most of these schools. Through that program, they develop a personal relationship with our student-athletes. But when they come to Tusculum, they fully understand that the university has basketball teams and has a beautiful campus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the full article…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[131,91,7,19,169,146,1,6,148,147,149,172],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nGreene County students enjoy men's basketball game, time on campus during special event at Tusculum University :: Tusculum University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www3.tusculum.edu\/news\/news\/2025\/greene-county-students-enjoy-mens-basketball-game-time-on-campus-during-special-event-at-tusculum-university\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Greene County students enjoy men's basketball game, time on campus during special event at Tusculum University :: Tusculum University\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"GREENEVILLE \u2013 Pioneer Arena rocked as about 1,100 students descended on the facility to watch the Tusculum University men\u2019s basketball team play a game Tuesday, Dec. 2. While this was a sporting event at its core, it was more than just about dunks and winning the game. It was an opportunity to give these elementary school and middle school students a chance to visit campus and further strengthen the relationships Tusculum has with Greene County Schools and Greeneville City Schools as well as with the community. \u201cThis game enables these kids to see the campus,\u201d said J.T. Burton, the head men\u2019s basketball coach. \u201cWe have our Reading with the Pioneers program, where we go to most of these schools. Through that program, they develop a personal relationship with our student-athletes. But when they come to Tusculum, they fully understand that the university has basketball teams and has a beautiful campus.\u201d Read the full article...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www3.tusculum.edu\/news\/news\/2025\/greene-county-students-enjoy-mens-basketball-game-time-on-campus-during-special-event-at-tusculum-university\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TUSCULUM UNIVERSITY NEWS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-03T03:13:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-03T05:23:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www3.tusculum.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/basketball-2-300x232.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jim Wozniak\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jim Wozniak\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" 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