A game that has been years in the making is finally here.
Kentucky will face Michigan on Sunday as part of the Hall of Fame London Showcase, which will be the first time a college basketball game has been played in the city’s O2 Arena and will mark the first time the Wildcats play a regular-season game in Europe.
The matchup with the Wolverines was originally announced in 2019 and scheduled for 2020, but it was postponed two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now it’s time for UK and Michigan to meet in England’s capital.
But why exactly are the Wildcats and Wolverines doing this? Traveling overseas in the middle of their seasons to play a basketball game on foreign soil?
UK coach John Calipari said the plan spawned from discussions with Michigan coach Juwan Howard regarding the possibility of a home-and-home series between the two programs. Calipari has been looking for more marquee non-conference games in Rupp Arena to bolster the Cats’ home schedule amid the annual neutral-site obligations like the Champions Classic and CBS Sports Classic.
The UK coach said he’d known Howard for a long time — “Really like him,” Calipari added — and began talking with the Michigan coach about scheduling. Around that time, officials with the Naismith Hall of Fame reached out about playing a game in London.
The original plan was for this international trip to be a third game in the Kentucky-Michigan series, with the other two played at home sites. Calipari has said multiple times in the past few weeks that the Wolverines will be visiting Rupp Arena next season, though there’s been no official announcement of that or any new timetable for the Cats to play in Ann Arbor.
The London game is set, however, and it should be a unique trip for both clubs.
“It’ll be a great experience,” Calipari said. “And when you’re doing what I’m doing, you’re trying to put these kids in different situations where they learn and grow.”
When he was coaching at UMass nearly three decades ago, Calipari took his Minutemen on a similar midseason excursion. During the 1994-95 season, UMass traveled to France for the Buckler Christmas Classic, a series of games from Dec. 27-31 against some European pro teams. The Minutemen lost all three games they played on that trip — and didn’t play any countable regular-season games from Dec. 17 to Jan. 3 as a result of the travel — but Calipari looks back fondly on the event.
He said his team saw some of the sights in Paris and went up to the Eiffel Tower.
“I imagine none of them will ever do it again,” Calipari said. “Maybe. But maybe not.”
The (at the time) 35-year-old coach also said he had his players try escargot, without telling them what it was they were eating.
“Wow, that’s not bad,” the players replied, according to Calipari’s retelling.
“Good. That’s snails,” the coach told them.
Calipari comically mimicked the spitting and gagging noises his players made at the revelation.
“Things that they would never have done, they got to do,” he said.
That UMass team ultimately went 29-5 and made it to the Elite Eight.
Kentucky in London
Sunday’s game should pose a relatively stiff test for the Wildcats.
Michigan (5-2) was ranked No. 22 to start the season. The Wolverines have since fallen out of the Top 25 — thanks in large part to an 87-62 loss to Arizona State — and they’ve looked a little shaky against some lesser-regarded opponents, but they also took No. 3 Virginia to the limit Tuesday night, losing 70-68 in a game that came down to the final possession.
UM is led by 7-footer Hunter Dickinson, a preseason All-America candidate and frontcourt force who should give Oscar Tshiebwe a good battle in the paint. There’s plenty more talent spread around the Wolverines’ roster, and Howard is off to a solid start as the program’s head coach, making the Elite Eight and Sweet Sixteen in his first two NCAA Tournament appearances.
No. 19-ranked Kentucky is coming off a 60-41 victory over Bellarmine on Tuesday night, a game that was tied 21-all at halftime.
“We better not play how we started this game,” Calipari said. “They’re well coached and they’re a good team, so it will be a hard game.”
The Wildcats flew out of Lexington on Wednesday and arrived in London early Thursday morning local time. The plan was to take Thursday off to get acclimated to the time change and start getting to work on prepping for the Wolverines after that.
Calipari knew going in that his players wouldn’t have a ton of downtime, but his hope was that they’d be able to soak up some of the surroundings. He noted that the team would be staying right in the heart of the city and encouraged the Wildcats to venture out of the team hotel to see the local attractions within walking distance. There were also some specific sightseeing activities planned for the college players.
“I’m excited, honestly. I’ve never been overseas,” said senior forward Jacob Toppin. “... This is a once-in-a-lifetime situation, and a lot of people can’t even leave their state or their hometown — so I’m definitely grateful. We’re all grateful that we get the opportunity to go to London and play. We’re all excited. And hopefully we can come back with a W.”
Asked if there was anything specific Toppin wanted to see in London, he offered a candid reply.
“Honestly, I have no clue what’s over there,” he said.
Toppin added that he would probably ask his mom what he should see, maybe do a little research before leaving Lexington.
Senior guard CJ Fredrick said he traveled to Italy when he was 13 or 14 years old — his mother has family there — but he’s never been to England.
“I don’t know much about it at all,” Fredrick admitted.
The 23-year-old does know that the country is nuts over soccer, however. Fredrick called himself a major fan of the World Cup and was excited to see the atmosphere in London amid the tournament.
“I’m such a World Cup fan. That’s one of my favorite sporting events to watch,” he said. “I know soccer there is such a huge deal, so just to see the excitement … I’m excited about that, for sure.”
Fredrick won’t get to watch the home team with the locals. England’s first match in the elimination round of the tournament is set for a most inopportune time: Sunday at 7 p.m. London time. The Wildcats’ game at the O2 Arena is scheduled for 6 p.m. London time.
That means any Londoners interested in seeing Kentucky basketball in person would have to miss the England-Senegal match to do so. Fredrick is taking a realistic approach to the chances of that happening.
“I would say … probably not,” he said. “I don’t think we’ll be seeing too many locals.”
