MONTICELLO, Ark. - The University of Arkansas at Monticello Men's Basketball Team is excited to welcome Monticello Elementary School and Monticello Intermediate School back to Steelman Field House for their match-up with Hendrix College on Thursday, Nov. 16. The schools are being invited for the second ever "Billie Ball" game.

Last year, the Monticello Elementary School and Monticello Intermediate Schools ran a fundraiser competition among the classes to bring in the most cases of water for the UAM sports teams. As a reward for collecting the most cases of water, the top two classes in each school were given a free period spent talking, hanging out, and playing games with UAM student-athletes.

Read the original release HERE: https://www.uamsports.com/news/2022/12/1/uam-student-athletes-engage-with-the-monticello-community.aspx

Here are some stats showing how big of a success the fundraiser was:

• 17,312 waters were brought in between the Monticello Elementary and Intermediate! (577 Cases)
• The two groups with the most waters were 191 cases for Ms. Turner's 1^st grade class and 151 cases for Mrs. Grimes 2^nd grade class.

After the success of the incredibly generous fundraiser, over 500 students and teachers, in grades 2^nd to 5^th, from the Monticello Elementary and Intermediate Schools were invited to attend the Weevils' home game against Langston University on Dec. 13, 2022. The game was deemed the "Billie Ball" game and was a massive hit among the community.

The principals – Cindy Hilburn and Blake Abbott – were honored at halftime, along with a battle between the two principals to see which school has the principal that is the best at basketball.

The match will be held at Steelman Field House with tip-off at 12:00 p.m. For those that cannot attend the game: Live stats and live stream links will be available as clickable tabs on the men's basketball schedule.

#WeevilNation