Passionate basketball players filled the gym with enthusiasm, and the crowd went wild for the annual “Muji” Tournament.

On March 24, the 18th Annual Muji Muhammad basketball tournament was held in the gym; the annual event has special rules: each team consists of three co-ed players, freshmen to seniors. Only one player can be a member of the Varsity Basketball team.

This year team “Scott’s Tots,” made up of Ms. Briedis, Solomon Neuhaus, and Joey Robbins, took home the trophy, emerging victorious among the 17 teams.

The night before the tournament, Ms. Marsland, Head of Middle School Admissions, excitedly told The Willistonian that the highlight of Muji, for her, are the upsets. She said, “I love the thrill that an underdog gets points and beats up a strong one!”

Mr. Sawyer, Head of freshmen boys dorm and host of the Muji tournament, told a memory of Muji, which, at first, doesn’t seem so positive, but he can laugh about it now.

“In the first year of Muji, [2002], I sprained my ankle at the beginning of the game which was really painful,” he laughed.

Sarah Sullivan, captain of the Girls Varsity Basketball team, said she wasn’t too stressed about the tournament.

“I didn’t take it too seriously,” she said. “I didn’t care about who won or lost, I just did it all for fun.”

Before the games began, Insoo Kang, member of Boys Varsity Basketball team, was really confident about winning. “I am certain of victory,” he said.

Mr. Sawyer explained to The Willistonian the origins of the Muji Tournament.

Muji is named after Muji Muhammad, who introduced the three-on-three basketball tournament to Williston, which, as a post graduate student, he brought from his previous school, Nobles [and Greenough] School near Boston, in 2001-2002.

That same year, Mr. Dietrich came to Williston to work in Admissions; his previous job was, coincidentally, also at Noble and Greenough.. The two of them brought the tournment idea from Nobel’s and they started playing it at Williston in the spring of 2002.

The next year, once Muhammad had graduated, Williston started to call it “Muji”  and the name stuck.

In first few years, this tournament did not have any referees; every foul was called by players themselves. However, it started to have referees to ensure fairer results. “Students got too competitive,” Mr. Sawyer said.

Praghya Raja Athavan, a Girls JV basketball player, was a little stressed out about the tournament. “I will try my best to get couple of successful shots, I am not confident though,” she said.

Vishnu Sekar, a senior, was nervous about the game, but mostly because, “I don’t want to embarrass myself,” he said.

Shoko Ishikawa, freshman, said she was really excited to show her friends how good she is on the court. “I want to play amazingly well and impress my friends,” she smiled.

Bao Pham, a junior, was excited to make lasting memory of Williston since it is the last trimester for him. “I just want to fully enjoy this tournament with my best friends!” he said.