6:40 p.m., Sept. 14, 2010----A celebrity basketball game extravaganza will be held at The Bob on Sunday, Sept. 26, when UD notables, state dignitaries and others take to the court against a team of basketball legends led by former Harlem Globetrotter Meadowlark Lemon.

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Doors open at 3 p.m. for pre-game activities and tip off is at 4 p.m.

The event is a fundraiser for the Downingtown, Pa., High School “Blue and Gold” Marching Band, to help pay expenses for its upcoming trip to the 2011 Tournament of Roses Parade as the only representative of the mid-Atlantic region.

Playing Sept. 26 for the Tri-State Tornados will be UD's Heidi Sarver, director of the Marching Band, and Brian Baptiste, assistant athletic director for compliance, as well as Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, Lt. Gov. Matt Denn, Delaware Sen. Karen Peterson, Pennsylvania Sen. Andy Dinniman, Pennsylvania State Rep. Curt Schroder, Downingtown Mayor Josh Maxwell, WJBR personality Michael Waite and Paul Owens, pastor of Cornerstone Delaware Church.

Monte Ross, UD head men's basketball coach, will serve as celebrity head coach of Lemon's team, and Tina Martin, UD head women's basketball coach, will serve as celebrity “Commissioner of Basketball” for the match.

In addition, UD quarterback Pat Devlin, a 2006 graduate of Downingtown High, will be honored with a presentation from his alma mater, and Newark Mayor Vance Funk will make a presentation to the band.

Tickets, starting at $18, are now on sale at the Bob Carpenter Center box office or may be purchased through Ticketmaster at [www.ticketmaster.com] or by calling 1-800-745-3000. For more information, visit [www.TristateTornados.com].

Lemon promises an exciting evening: “Although we are bringing our A game with some of the best slam dunking, ball handling and trick dribbling in the world, we will have a good time, make the audience laugh and help them forget their problems for a couple of hours."

The Downingtown Band, composed of students from both East and West Downingtown high schools, is one of only 22 bands selected to participate in the Rose Parade, one of the most watched televised events in the world.

Activities planned for the Sept. 26 event include a patriotic song sung from center court by the school children in attendance and a halftime show featuring performances by the award- winning DHS Marching Band and the DHS cheerleading squad. Basketballs signed by Lemon will be given away during the game, and afterward Lemon and his teammates will line the court for a free autograph session.

Co-chairs of the band's Rose Parade Events Fundraising Committee Steve and Tina Wisniewski.