Graduation Day provides footage for Sykes documentary

There were plenty of Keifer Sykes fans in attendance when the senior from Chicago crossed the stage to receive his bachelor’s in Communication at the Kress Events Center Saturday afternoon.

Sykes got enthusiastic applause and cheers from a large contingent of hometown family and friends as well as many in the Commencement crowd of nearly 5,000 who followed his standout career with the Phoenix men’s basketball team.

Two Chicago-based filmmakers were in attendance, as well, keeping their lens trained on Sykes at various times before, during and after the ceremony, to capture the joy associated with the big day.

The men from Full Court Films LLC are making a documentary about Sykes, his life and his underdog bid for college basketball stardom (achieved) and his try at making his mark as a 5-10 player in the big leagues of professional basketball, the NBA (to be determined; Sykes spent the last week at the league’s annual combine working out for scouts, coaches and executives in preparation for the late-June draft).

Full Court Films has been tracking Sykes’ career on and off since the point guard was a prep sensation for Chicago Marshall H.S. They have periodically videotaped segments, interviews and both on-court and behind-the-scenes action over the course of Sykes’ four –year career at UW-Green Bay, where he earned honorable mention all-America honors.

They said Saturday they hope to wrap up the project in the coming year. The pair has previously worked on projects that aired on Spike TV, TLC, HGTV and others.