By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
Civic Arena in downtown St. Joseph will be the home of the second annual Bill Snyder Classic this weekend, hosted by the St. Joseph Sports Commision.
The matchup features division one women's basketball powerhouse #12 Kansas State, taking on up and coming Middle Tennessee State.
Director Brett Eseley says it's exciting to have a unique different type of event than St. Joseph might usually host
"I say unique, different type, there's not a lot of communities across the country that get to host division one basketball that don't have a division one institution in the locale,'" Esely tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. "And so, it's a good testament to the fact that I think the experience for both teams was really good last year to get an opportunity to do this for a second year."
Esely says it's helpful if events like this have some sort of tie to the area and a cause, and says this event starts with K State coach Jeff Mittie
"He's a Missouri Western alum, he was the head coach at Missouri Western in the mid 90's during arguably one of the most successful time periods in Griffon women's basketball history, and there have been a lot of successful time periods," Esely points out.
Another tie comes from right down the road in Maryville, with senior guard Serena Sundell
"She's been an all-Big 12 guard every year she's been in Manhattan and was an honorable mention All American I believe one year ago," Eseley says. "She's off to a wonderful start again this year."
Recently, Sundell recorded her first collegiate triple double against USC Upstate with 26 points, a career-high and school record-tying 13 assists, and 10 rebounds. Sundell became the fifth K-State player to record a triple-double and the first since Shalee Lehning carded a triple-double at Colorado on March 7, 2009.
Esely encourages everyone to not wait until next year to attend an event like this
"I think there will be a next year for this event but there's never any guarantee, so make next year this year, don't take it for granted," Esely says. "Especially if you're a K State fan, if you're a K State fan you need to be there, anytime you can bring your Wildcats from Manhattan to St. Joe, right here in your own backyard, I hope you proudly put your purple or lavender on, or whatever your favorite shade of purple is, and come on out."
The matchup will tipoff at 5pm on Saturday. Tickets are still available and can be found by clicking HERE.
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