Editor’s note: Longtime Baton Rouge sportswriter, author and television host Lee Feinswog takes his unique approach to sports to dig deeper into LSU Athletics. Look for these features online and in official athletics department publications throughout the season.
The tiny Louisiana town of Ball has, according to the 2010 U.S. Census, 4,000 people. One of them, LSU sophomore basketball player Aaron Epps, figures he might become the first one to visit Australia when the Tigers go there next week.
“This is a huge blessing,” said Epps, a product of Tioga High School, located nine miles north of Alexandria. “It’s something I really look forward to.”
And why not? On a hot August afternoon, when media attention in Baton Rouge is normally focused only on football, LSU basketball on Tuesday took the spotlight.
That’s because the Tigers are headed Down Under, where it’s entirely likely someone from Ball has never been before, to play some ball and take advantage of an NCAA rule that allows schools to make big trips like this once every four years. Four years ago, then-coach Trent Johnson took his Tigers to Italy.
In this case, it doesn’t hurt that LSU has three Australians on the team — junior Darcy Malone, freshman Ben Simmons, and assistant head coach David Patrick.
Patrick was born in Bermuda but moved to Melbourne, Australia, when he was 10 before then coming to Baton Rouge to finish high school at the former Chapel Trafton (now the Dunham School). It was in Melbourne where he played with and became friends with David Simmons, whose son happened to grow up to become the top prep player in the United States.
Two of LSU’s five games against pro teams will be against Melbourne United, which was the Melbourne Tigers when Patrick played for them.
“This will be a great opportunity to brand ourselves over there,” said Patrick, who can’t wait to showcase the country to his basketball family.
LSU starts play August 15 in Sydney, where it plays two games.
“It’s going to be full of Malones,” Darcy Malone said. “That’s going to be exciting.”
Then LSU heads to the Gold Coast for a game before traveling to Melbourne for games on August 20 and 22 before returning home.
LSU head coach Johnny Jones had never been to Australia before he joined Patrick there last September on a recruiting trip, with Simmons more or less already in the fold but with an eye on other Aussies for the future. Yes, there are more than just punters coming out of Australia (LSU’s Jamie Keehn is one of many starring in U.S. college football).
Think former NCAA great players like Andrew Gaze, Luc Longley and Andrew Bogut, and in the case of LSU back in the day, Eddie Palubinskas, Andy Campbell and Ray Borner, the latter who the Tigers will see on the trip. So will former LSU player Al Green, not Australian but who went there to play professionally and stayed.
Malone said his home of Canberra is just less than three hours drive from Sydney and can’t wait for his family to check out his team.
“It means a lot to both our program and me personally,” Malone said. “LSU will give the people of Australia a lesson in what college basketball is like and I think we’re going to learn how to play against professionals and make sure we can be as good as we can be in preparation for this coming season.”
Keith Hornsby, one of just two LSU seniors, has been fortunate to have traveled extensively with his family outside of basketball, but this is his first trip to Australia.
“I’ve always wanted to go there,” Hornsby said.
Malone and Simmons, Hornsby said with a smile, “Have sure hyped it up a lot, so there are a lot of expectations to live up to.”
Jones is sure the trip will fill the bill in every way.
But the head coach is all about what this time of togetherness and competition will mean to a team that will go into the season in the spotlight, largely because of Simmons, and a favorite to go far in the NCAA Tournament. And that’s not lost on his players, but after all they are kids.
Simmons, half Australian and half American, said the first thing he wants when he gets there next week is some shepherd’s pie and a drink called a Big M, which he said “is like a chocolate shake.”
That’s about all the normal he’ll get, however. Simmons, likely to become a hoops household name in America this season, is already big-time back home.
“I know how it’s going to be because I came back after my junior year and there were already some videos on YouTube and it was kind of crazy wherever I went,” Simmons said. “I was surrounded and stuff. People were asking for pictures. At my old high school people would be watching me just warm up, the whole school just watching me shoot. Now going back it’s probably going to be crazy. It’s been a whole year and I’ve been on TV a lot. It’s fun. I’m enjoying it.”
Epps, slightly less known, has a special hope.
“Kangaroos,” he said with a smile. “Kangaroos. I’ve never seen one.”
Patrick said he can arrange that.
“It’s not just Outback and kangaroos,” Patrick said with a laugh. “It’s got major cities and I think it’s going to be eye-opening for these kids. And basketball is a big deal over there.”
But he will do his best to ensure that Epps takes that all-important selfie.
“We are taking them to the zoo so they’ll see koalas and kangaroos,” Patrick said. “This will be a fun trip, not just for basketball but also for learning. Some of these guys have never been out of the country, so for us to be able to do this is great.”
Remember to follow updates on the trip Aug. 11-23 on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/LSUBasketball and on Twitter and Instagram @LSUBasketball. Plus, daily recaps and stories will be available at LSUsports.net of LSU’s Tour Down Under.