Cedar City, Utah - On Saturday afternoon, incoming freshmen at SUU piled into the Centrum Arena and participated in T-Bird U, a chance to get to know the coaches and student athletes on campus as part of the Thunder Academy.

After a brief video introduction, newly appointed SUU Athletic Director Jason Butikofer addressed the freshman class, encouraging them to come out and support the different teams as much as possible.

Afterwards the teams were introduced to the students, and each team played a game with the incoming freshmen.

Before the conclusion of the presentation, SUU men's basketball coach Nick Robinson fired up the crowd while addressing the freshmen.

Orientation team leader and one of the hosts of T-Bird U, Ryan Bailey, said the event accomplished what they were hoping.

“I thought it was a positive experience for both the incoming students and the student athletes,” he said. “Our main focus was building a peer-to-peer interaction and I feel like we accomplished that and have good ideas on how to expand that moving forward.”

Following T-Bird U, the students were treated to a Tailgate outside the Centrum, before walking over to Eccles Coliseum to watch the SUU football team practice, while in turn preparing themselves to support the teams this upcoming season.

SUU head football coach Ed Lamb said having the students at practice was a motivating factor for the team.

“The players responded to all the excitement and support,” he said. “It was a lot of fun for them. We went eight-for-eight passing, two-for-two on PAT's, had a great punt and there's no question in my mind that the environment played a big role in the concentration level. We really appreciated the support and hope its a sign of great things to come with this large freshmen class.”