The Big 12 Men's Basketball All-Stars are in the midst of a two-week trip through Europe. For more on the team's trip, click here.
DAY 3
Aug. 7, 2002
After the Monday-Tuesday travel and time change afforded them little sleep, the Big 12 All-Stars slept in Wednesday. All but Pervis Pasco and Nick Anderson. According to Pervis, a senior from Kansas State, he awoke at approximately 4:15 a.m. with the Swedish sunrise shining through the open blinds of his hotel room. The room doesn't include a clock, so when Pervis got curious about the time, he looked out the window to a big digital display across the street, which read 4:28. "I know that clock doesn't say 4:28," Pervis quoted himself as saying. For further verification, he strained and found a clock tower outside that also read 4:28. Now confused, Pervis woke up roommate Nick, a forward from Texas A&M, and the pair decided to call Nick's family in the States to ask the time. When Nick's family said it was 9:30 p.m. in the Central Time Zone, the two players did the math and confirmed that they were up at 4:30 a.m. and the sun was shining. The two then shut the blinds and unsuccessfully tried to go back to sleep. They eventually gave up and made their way to the hotel's breakfast buffet, which opened at 6:15 a.m.
After breakfast at the hotel (which to the surprise of the group included bacon, eggs, hash browns and pancakes - though the pancakes were more like crepes than hotcakes - but was different enough that most the players were unimpressed), the team was bused to the Vasa Museum. The museum showcases the Vasa, a mighty Swedish ship that capsized in 1628, 20 minutes after its maiden launch, and was rescued in 1961 after 333 years at the bottom of the ocean. The team and traveling party spent an hour or so touring the exhibits, watching films and getting their photos taken by fellow tourists. Missouri junior Travon Bryant chatted and posed for photos with an American tourist and fan of the Tigers, but was miffed at the end of their visit when the tourist mistook him for Kareem Rush. Jack Sullivan of Iowa State said of the museum: "It's pretty unbelievable how big the ship is. It was a really neat experience to see it, but we were there a long time."
The team went straight from the Vasa Museum to a morning shoot around at the Fryshuset Gymnasium, where they worked out for an hour and a half. The players then ate lunch on their own, and gathered at 4 p.m. to leave for their first game.
By game time the Fryshuset Gymnasium was crowded with a standing-room-only crowd of 300 or so. For whatever reason, a wall of chairback stands wasn't folded out, and the crowd lined one sideline on a row of bleachers and one baseline in three rows of stands. Before the game, Bryant Nash of Kansas was greeted by fellow Jayhawk Leila Menguc, a junior who is a Stockholm native.
The All-Stars used a 17-0 run in the first quarter to easily defeat the 08 Stockholm Human Rights club squad, Fryshuset's home team. A recap and stats of the game can be found on this site.
Jake Sullivan led the All-Stars with 13 points. "That was the funnest game I've played in since high school," Jake said after the game. "Being able to play with guys like that."
Oklahoma point guard Quannas White, who allegedly spent the previous evening hanging with Nick Carter of the Back Street Boys, scored 11 points and was pleased with the outcome. "It was a big game, all the guys pitched in and did a good job," Quannas said. "We won by almost 40. We've got to come back and do the same thing tomorrow."
Following the game the team was greeted by another visitor, this time Big 12 alum Fredrik Jonzen, who finished his basketball career at Oklahoma State this spring. Fredrik, a native of Uppsala, Sweden, told former teammate Ivan McFarlin that he was busy practicing with the Swedish National team. Fredrik drove approximately 30 minutes to see the All-Stars, and spent a few minutes after the game teaching Ivan how to count Swedish coins.
