BOONE, N.C. ?Members of Appalachian State University’s Student-Athlete Advisory Board (SAAB) will collect donations for victims of this week’s devastating earthquake in Haiti during the Jan. 23 basketball doubleheader and Southern Conference football championship celebration at the Holmes Center. All donations will be given to the Red Cross Haiti Relief and Development Fund.
All fans that make a donation to the fund will be entered into a drawing to receive an Appalachian athletics prize pack, featuring items autographed by head football coach Jerry Moore and men’s basketball head coach Buzz Peterson. The winner will be announced in the second half of the men’s basketball game versus Western Carolina and the winner must be present to receive the prize.
The Haitian earthquake hit close to home for ASU athletics, as former Mountaineer wide receiver Hans Batichon and his wide, Claudia, a former ASU compliance assistant, are both natives of Haiti and have numerous family members that still reside in the island nation. Hans is now an assistant coach at Savannah State and Claudia is a member of the athletics compliance staff at Georgia Southern. Both the Winston-Salem Journal and Statesboro Herald published stories this week about the Batichons’ search for relatives and the relief efforts that they are helping organize in south Georgia. Both stories can be found at GoASU.com.
ASU women’s basketball hosts Davidson at 1 p.m. on Jan. 23, followed by the Mountaineer men squaring off with archrival Western Carolina at 3:30 p.m. Doors open at noon, when an autograph session with ASU football legends, including national-championship quarterback Richie Williams and all-time leading rusher Kevin Richardson, will be held on the Holmes Center concourse. Members of the 2009 SoCon football champions will sign autographs from 2:30-3:30 on the concourse and a ceremony honoring the Mountaineers for their fifth-straight conference title will be held at halftime. Tickets ($10 for adults, $5 for children ages 3-12) can be purchased online at GoASU.com, by phone at (828) 262-2079 or in person at the ASU athletics ticket office, located in the Holmes Center.