Women's Basketball | 12/8/2014 8:48:00 PM

Wingate, N.C.----The Wingate University women's basketball team hosts the third annual Future Bulldog Day Tuesday, as the Bulldogs will face Shaw in an 11 a.m. game in Cuddy Arena. Future Bulldog Day is an event for local fifth-grade students to visit the Wingate campus for a day and enjoy tours, motivational speakers and NCAA Division II basketball.
 
Ten local elementary schools will send 1059 students and chaperones to the event. Eight schools from Union County (East, Rock Rest, Indian Trail, Poplin, Prospect, Waxhaw, Wingate and Unionville), one school from Anson County (Peachland-Polkton) and one school from Mecklenburg County (Polo Ridge) will attend the third annual Future Bulldog Day.
 
"(Future Bulldog Day) is one of the neatest community service projects we do each year," Wingate head women's basketball coach Ann Hancock says. "I think it provides hope for a bright future to students who might not otherwise realize the opportunities available to them through education. Their excitement and enthusiasm are inspirational to everyone involved."

"This field trip is important to show our students what the future can hold and help them to strive for their dreams," Indian Trail fifth-grader teacher and grade-level chair Suzanne Feinstein says. "It fits into our Seven Habits of Healthy Kids by showing students if they 'Put First Things First' and 'Begin With the End in Mind,' they can accomplish great things in their future."
 
Wingate's student-athletes take something away from the Future Bulldog Day. "(Future Bulldog Day) has been a great experience and a chance to meet some awesome kids in the community," Wingate senior guard Kelli Bonner (Yadkinville, N.C.) says. "I love the atmosphere that the kids create. It's always my favorite game of the year."
 
Hancock and her teams hosted several similar events during her time as head coach at UNC Wilmington. "Mike Merrill was our director of basketball operations at UNCW," Hancock says. "He was very instrumental in getting the Education Day event from idea to reality."
 
"Future Bulldog Day shows me there is hope for Wingate's future," Wingate sophomore forward Janna Johnson (Wake Forest, N.C.) says.
 
WINGATE UNIVERSITY
 
Wingate University, ranked as the 10th "best value" in the South by U.S. News & World Report, serves more than 3,000 students on three campuses in Wingate, Charlotte and Hendersonville, N.C. Founded in 1896, the University offers 35 undergraduate majors, 37 minors and career concentrations, numerous pre-professional programs, graduate degrees in business, accounting, education, physician assistant studies and sport administration, and doctorates in pharmacy, physical therapy and education.
 
With a 14 to 1 student/teacher ratio, Wingate students gain the tools and support needed to excel in academics and apply that learning toward an extraordinary career and life. To view current news, video and story ideas, visit www.youtube.com/wingateuniversity. 
 
In addition to a robust intramural athletics program, Wingate student athletes compete in 22 NCAA Division II sports. The University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past eight years. For more information, go to www.wingate.edu.
 
Wingate is first among NCAA Division II Academic All-America®-producing colleges in the 2000's with 72 selections. Among North Carolina's colleges and universities, Wingate's 72 Academic All-America® honorees are number one during this millennium. Wingate's 81 lifetime Academic All-America® picks are tops among all SAC schools. For more information on WU athletics, go to www.wingatebulldogs.com.