The world-famous Harlem Globetrotters are stopping by Reed Arena Monday night in its 86th consecutive year of trotting the globe.
Globetrotter Slick Willie Shaw said this year the Globetrotters have a great rookie class. Monday’s game will feature players such as Jacob “Hops” Tucker, the 2011 College Slam Dunk Champ, who sports a 50-inch vertical leap.
TNT Maddox, the first female Globetrotter in nearly two decades, and just the ninth female in Globetrotter history, will play Monday night, as well as 7-foot-4-inch Stretch Middleton — one of three 7-footers on the team this year.
“Like the NBA, we are going to play basketball, but we are going to mix it up at the same time,” Shaw said. “We activate the crowd, get the crowd involved; it’s basketball with entertainment in the mix.”
Shaw said it doesn’t matter who the Globetrotters play, they are going to whoop up on them, but that the other team is still full of talented basketball players.
“These guys can play basketball, you know, they’re basketball players; they can shoot the ball really well, they can run, they can dunk, they can play the game of basketball,” Shaw said. “So, we’re going to have to go out there and play.”
Every Globetrotter’s game includes the 4-point shot, 35-feet from the basket nearly 12 feet beyond the NBA’s three-point arc.
The North American leg of the 2012 World Tour runs through mid-April. Until then, the team will play nearly 270 games in more than 230 cities, 46 states and five Canadian provinces.
“Harlem Globetrotters — we trot the globe,” Shaw said. “I’ve been blessed in my eight-year tenure as a Harlem Globetrotter. I’ve personally been to 60-plus countries.”
Shaw said the Globetrotters have scouts to recruit players like any other team.
“Personally, I was in Las Vegas playing an All-Star game eight years ago and was recruited by the Globetrotters,” Shaw said.
Shaw said the Globetrotters are known as a basket of good will in addition to being basketball players.
“We go to children’s hospitals, schools; those are the things I like personally doing, because you go see children in the hospital fighting for their life, and they haven’t smiled in a month because they’re going into surgery,” Shaw said. “I go in there and spin the ball on my finger, and I’ll never forget when a mother literally shed a tearbecause she’d seen her child smile.”
Zaid Siddiqui, junior psychology major, said he is excited to see the Globetrotters perform.
“They’re always so innovative and creative, bringing excitement and something different to the normal realm of basketball,” Siddiqui said.
Reed Arena general manager Leslie Lamkin said students can purchase tickets through the Twelfth Man Foundation website. Tip-off is at 7 p.m., and doors open at 6 p.m. for the public. Ticket prices start at $15.
“We’re going to have a good time out there, and it’s going to be something you will remember for the rest of your life,” Shaw said.