PHILADELPHIA– Michigan and Kentucky originally signed a contract to play an intersectional game in London back in 2019.
Then the United States were hit by Covid, pushing back the game to Dec. 4 of this season.
Who knew at the time the tip for the ABC nationally televised game would be at 1 p.m., an hour before England was to play Senegal in the knockout round of the World Cup.
That game captivated an entire country, leaving promoters form the Hall of Fame to scramble to get a crowd at the O2 Arena. .
As it turned out, some 8500 fans showed up, paying anywhere from $ 45 to $260 for a premium seat in the lower bowl to watch. The upper deck was sealed off.
Basketball in the UK is treated like a club sport in this football mad country.
But Michigan and Kentucky both have passionate alumni bases that have the money to travel and both programs seem interested in expanding their horizons.
Michigan took a summer tour to Greece and Italy. Kentucky plays exhibitions in the Bahamas.
This was the first time either team had played a regular season game in Europe.
Kentucky won, 73-68, getting its first quality win of the season. Casem Wallace scored 14 points and 6-9, 260 pound center Oscar Tschiebwe had a double double. Center Hunter Dickerson had 23 points for the Wolverines (5-3).
The crowd at the O2, which hosted NBA games from 2013 to 2019, was encouraging enough that the Hall of Fame is planning future events there
We are definitely interested,” said Hall vice president of basketball operations, Greg Procino. “But it takes a lot of planning in logistics, usually between 8 and 12 months.”
From a recruiting standpoint, it’s another sales pitch for the best prospects who have grown up in a travel team culture to experience something new. More and more programs are going to Europe on summer tours and even select high schools, like Sierra Canyon, Calif., are going that route. And Lea Miller, who runs Battle 4 Atlantis, tells me she already has a women’s game between South Carolina and Notre Dame scheduled for Paris next November.
Kentucky Hall of Fame coach John Calipari put it in historic perspective.
“To be the first team to play in the 02, come on man,” he said. “It’s llke the venue, the venue in the world,” he said. “Everybody wants to play here. We are the first college teams to play here. Kudos to the Hall of Fame, it’s what they do for basketball, college, high school, NBA. Anything we can do for them we will do.”
“This was supposed to be played three years ago. Now, it’s all of a sudden a game in the middle of the World Cup and England is playing and they move the game to the same time. It’s like the stars were aligned. How did that happen? But, that being said, it was a great crowd. Big Blue nation. This is London, not London, Ky. Our fans always find a way to follow us. Somehow, they always seem to get tickets to get into the building.”
Playing college basketball in global venues, its an idea whose time has come.
“It’s my first time in London not my first time internationally,” Michigan assistant coach Phil Martelli told our Mike Flynn. “Hats off to everybody I hope they inivte Mich back forever and ever. It’s a great experience, the way they treated us, having the players bond together, not just sit in the room. It was a different experience, almost like a bowl experience they have for football. You go somewhere, play one game, but have all these experiences. just the memories, the growing for our team was invaluable.”
Both teams arrived in London Thursday. They toured the city and visited Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge Stadium Friday for a tour of the grounds.
Calipari’s only complaint was that he had difficulty with the time change. “I haven’t slept for three straight days,” he said.
