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High school athletes and their families joined the DU women’s basketball team in Hamilton Gymnasium on Saturday for the third annual Pioneer Day.

The student athletes and their families were able to watch the Pioneers practice and meet and talk to the women’s basketball players and the entire coaching staff.

“We were thrilled with the turnout. We had a lot of coaches and we had almost entire teams come out,” said head coach Erik Johnson. “We had some of the top players in Colorado coming to check out our team, check out DU and get to know our program.”

The participants in Pioneer Day watched the team practice from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. as they prepared for their final season in the Sun Belt Conference before joining the Western Athletic Conference in 2012.

“We get to be role models to [the participants] for how they would want to play when they go back to their high school teams or their rec teams,” said junior point guard Emiko Smith. “We had a lot of people out here, a great Q&A and a great opportunity to let these girls and guys know what we’re doing.”

The day also included a campus tour, a question-and-answer session and a meet-and-greet with the players and coaching staff at the end of the day.

“I thought our players got a lot out of realizing that they are role models and having all these women asking them questions about academics and college life,” said Johnson. “I thought it was a really good opportunity to have our high school coaches and players come and get a real view of what happens at a college practice.”

The experience allowed high school athletes to experience the women’s basketball team up close and ask the players and coaches about basketball, academics and juggling the life of a student athlete.

The Pioneers will begin their season at home against Loyola Marymount Nov. 11 at 5 p.m.