JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii – Duke has long been the favorite team of Jonathan Derseraux, a Navy Petty Officer First Class from Wilmington, N.C., but he’s also got some mad respect for the Arizona Wildcats these days.
For one thing, he still remembers the way UA tore up Duke in the 2011 Sweet Sixteen.
“You know, what MoMo Jones did to us,” he said.
On Wednesday, when the present-day Arizona Wildcats toured the USS Chafee destroyer that Derseraux is assigned to, he found another reason: UA guard Kadeem Allen played for the same high school he attended and played football at New Hanover of Wilmington.
Told Arizona would be touring the ship, Desereaux brought his old New Hanover jersey to work Wednesday and gleefully unrolled it in front of a surprised Allen, who shares Facebook friends with Desearaux even though he had not met him before Wednesday.
Allen left impressed with Desearaux and his workplace. The Wildcats toured several decks on the ship, appropriately looked at the “wildcat” that holds the anchor chain, while players also ventured into command and combat operations centers.
“It’s amazing how they can do everything when it comes to wartime, send out missiles to knock things down,” Allen said. “It’s good to see someone from home doing something like that.”
Their 45-minute tour aboard the USS Chafee was only the latest highlight in a week full of military connections the Wildcats and the three other teams in Friday’s Armed Forces Classic doubleheader have been making.
After landing in Honolulu on Tuesday, the teams went straight over to an officer’s club on the base, then retreated to their hotels. Everyone had a chance to practice at the base’s fitness center on Wednesday, while UA and Kansas players toured the destroyer.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience to actually see Pearl Harbor and see the inner workings of a battleship,” UA coach Sean Miller said. “It’s something that I don’t think anyone can comprehend.
“So much for these guys is being able to lean and grow as a person and be able to see some things they wouldn’t be able to see if they weren’t a part of our program.”
Junior guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright had the same thought.
“It’s been great,” UA guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright said. “It’s just crazy where basketball takes you. This is something I’ll cherish the rest of my life. I’m not taking it for granted. My eyes are wide open and I’m just astounded at what I’m seeing. I’m just taking it all in.”
After their ship tour, the Wildcats and their opponent on Friday, Michigan State, moved over to the base’s fitness center to run a clinic for children of military families.
On Thursday, the Wildcats are scheduled to take a tour of the USS Arizona Memorial, visible from the decks of the USS Chafee, while Michigan State will see the destroyer.
Under normal circumstances, this kind of itinerary would be a coach’s disaster. The Wildcats and Spartans are not only preparing for the start of the regular season, but both teams are shaking off injuries and other roster-shortening issues, while playing each other on ESPN tends to add a bit of pressure to it all.
Yet complaints are few, if any.
“The coaches know this week is bigger than the game itself,” said Clint Overby, vice president of ESPN Events, which has produced annual Armed Forces Classic games since 2012 in distant military locations.
That was the message both Miller and Michigan State coach Tom Izzo sent on Wednesday, too.
Izzo even likes the event so much he’s signed on twice, bringing his Spartans to Germany for the first Armed Forces Classic in 2012-13.
“These are kind of a game-changer for me,” Izzo said after the kids’ clinic. “Hopefully, these guys can see not only the sacrifices that these parents make, but also the kids. They have to sacrifice a lot to live this kind of life.”
