SAN DIEGO — As of Thursday morning, three active US Navy ships were in San Diego harbor. That number was reduced to two following the deployment of the USS Makin Island to the West Pacific this morning. The remaining two vessels are the USS Carl Vinson and the site for Friday’s matchup between No. 2 Gonzaga and Michigan State, the USS Abraham Lincoln.
Gonzaga head coach Mark Few and his players are excited for the unique opportunity on Veterans Day to play a basketball game aboard an aircraft carrier.
“What a great way, in a very small way, to honor all our service people who are out there. I think it is going to be extremely powerful,” Few said.
“That’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. There’s only a handful of people that can ever say they played a game on an aircraft carrier, and to do it against a prestigious school like Michigan State and that program, that’s just something that is good for college basketball,” Gonzaga junior guard Julian Strawther said.
Coach Few said he has never been on an aircraft carrier before, but when the opportunity came knocking, he did not need much convincing from Coach Izzo to agree to the game.
“Tom Izzo told me that outside of a Final Four, this was the greatest event he went to and the coolest thing he had ever done outside of being in a national championship game, so I said, ‘Okay, I’m in,’” Few said.
Coach Izzo and the Spartans took part in the Carrier Classic back in 2011 aboard the USS Carl Vinson against North Carolina. Coach Few and senior forward Drew Timme see similarities between that year’s team and this installment of Michigan State.
"You know when you play Michigan State, you will be in for a real, physical battle, so we better get our hard hats on and be ready,” Few said.
“Michigan State plays hard. That’s the Tom Izzo DNA. They are very blue collar in the way they play, so if we are going to be all cute and pretty, they are going to come out and kick our (butt), so we cannot be afraid to get our noses dirty,” Timme said.
Tip-off between the Zags and Spartans is set for 3:30 PM. The game can be seen on ESPN.
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