The St. Thomas community flocked to the Anderson Athletic Recreation Center on Sunday to enjoy a fan fest and celebrity basketball game sponsored by Pringles and Cheez-It.
Fan Fest took place in the AARC field house and offered music, booths and events with prizes, a performance from the University of St. Thomas drumline, a dance routine from the St. Thomas dance team and a dunk showcase put on by Jonathan Clark, a professional basketball dunker.
St. Thomas sophomore Max Collier said his favorite part was the snacks. The event brought in Top Chef contestants Eric Adjepong and Justin Sutherland, a St. Paul local. The chefs created dishes featuring Pringles and Cheez-It for fans to try.
“They were amazing, and they had a little competition which was cool,” Collier said.
Attendees spent their time playing giant Jenga, bags, and spinning wheels to win Cheez-It related prizes. The event also had booths from St. Thomas organizations such as Cru, Residence Hall Association and St. Thomas Activities and Recreation.
Around 11 a.m. attendees began lining up to get into Schoenecker Arena to watch the Celebrity Crunch Classic basketball game.
“It’s going to be crazy, I can’t wait to see the celebrity game,” said Collier.
TV personality and NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal coached team Cheez-It and NBA Hall of Fame power forward and Inside the NBA analyst Charles Barkley coached team Pringles in the Celebrity Crunch Classic. The celebrities playing included Minnesota Vikings player Kyle Rudolph, former Timberwolves player Wally Szczerbiak, Stranger Things star Caleb McLaughlin and NBA 2KTV host Rachel DeMita.
Prior to tip off, four fans competed for two spots to play alongside the celebrities.
O’Neal and Barkley made their presence known throughout the game. The two former NBA stars wore microphones and could be heard shouting instruction and encouragement to their teams while maintaining friendly banter between each other and the referees.
Rudolph felt the game was lighthearted but also competitive.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Rudolph. “If they keep score, we’re going to try to win.”
Events were held on the court at halftime and during timeouts, including a children’s dunk contest, a second performance by the University of St. Thomas dance team, and a dunk contest won by Jonathan Clark.
After two 20-minute halves of play, the Pringles bested the Cheez-It team 69-66 thanks to a last minute 3-pointer by Wally Szczerbiak.
Jack Sowada, a St. Thomas student who won the competition to join team Cheez-It, said his favorite part of the event was talking to Shaquille O’Neal, and he had a lot of fun playing with the celebrities.
“Everyone was having a good time, laughing, but people were still trying hard and it came down to the buzzer,” said Sowada.
Jack Stanek can be reached at stan5468@stthomas.edu.
Drew Bouman can be reached at boum7042@stthomas.edu.