In the midst of the excitement surrounding President Barack Obama’s visit to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Thursday, the Badger men’s basketball team was working hard to convince the president to meet them on the court.
Redshirt junior forward Zach Bohannon led the effort to reach out to Obama and persuade him to play a pick-up game with the team. Bohannon said he used Twitter to reach out to anyone with ties to Obama, even going so far as to contact Michelle Obama’s brother-in-law who is a basketball coach at Oregon State to try to get the president to visit the team.
While the Badgers did not have the chance to face the president on the court, they were able to spend some quality time with him before the rally.
Despite being initially skeptical Obama would actually meet with the team, junior guard Josh Gasser said he was “ecstatic” he got the chance to meet the president.
“It’s just a once in a lifetime opportunity that the average person is not going to get,” Gasser said. “I never personally thought that I would ever get the chance to see the president, and I did.”
During their time with the president, the team talked about school and basketball. Obama even gave study tips to a player studying for the LSAT, according to Bohannon.
“It was one of those moments that you will always remember because of how unbelievable of an experience it was,” Bohannon said.
One of the perks of winning an NCAA Basketball Tournament is the chance to visit the White House and talk with the president. During their time with Obama, the team told him to look for them in April when they win it all, according to Gasser.
“In the conversation that we had with him, we made sure to tell him to pick us in his bracket to win it all this year,” Gasser said. “It will definitely bring good things to our team and we’ll be ready to go.”
While the team was not able to take the court against the president Thursday, Obama said he would try to head back to Madison to play against the Badgers after the election. Bohannon said he is optimistic that the president will keep his promise, and he “won’t get his hopes down yet.”
