Featuring a Men’s Residence Hall division and a CoRec division, students competed last weekend in the three-day Bragging Rights basketball tournament beginning Friday evening and concluding with the finals and semifinals Sunday.  

The tournament was limited to those who live in Residence Halls only, in order to encourage participation on the part of students who live on campus. According to Mitch Talley, program assistant for Campus Recreation and Intramural Sports, it gives students who live on campus an event to create camaraderie with other students they live with. 

“We designed this to give these students something more than just a regular basketball season,” Talley said. “These students showed an interest in the tournament and asked us to put it on for them.”

Justin James, a sophomore in elementary education and member of the Syme Residence Hall team, said he liked that the tournament was limited to those who lived in the dorms. 

“All the guys on my team live on my hall, and we are all pretty tight,” James said. “We are taking this pretty seriously. We lost yesterday but then we went out and starting having fun and being loose.  That is how we have got to play.”

Jeff Ray, a resident advisor and member of the Wood Residence Hall team, said it was a great opportunity to be involved and do something with the guys on his hall.

“This is a good way to bring our residents out and stay involved,” Ray, a junior in civil engineering, said.

According to Talley, many of the participants will also compete in intramural basketball play and have competed in this tournament in the past.

“A lot of the guys out here are the same ones from last year,” Talley said.  “You’re not going to see any of the extraordinary teams like you would during the regular intramural season though.”

Ray considered this tournament good preparation for the upcoming intramural season. 

“We are actually using this same team for intramural basketball,” Ray said. “We are learning a lot about what we can and can’t do.”

James said the Bragging Rights tournament was critical to his team’s chances in intramural play.

“We needed this,” James, who will be competing in CoRec and Men’s Residence Hall intramural basketball, said. “I think that playing in this tournament will get my team right.” 

The final game of the Men’s tournament featured the men from Syme and Wood halls with Syme Hall prevailing in the end. By most accounts, the participants enjoyed the tournament and were glad to have played.

“It was a good way to spend the weekend and be with the guys on my hall,” Ray said.