ASU Basketball: Behind The Scenes

I’ve mentioned before that we are on a winning streak. Our latest win included free tickets to an Arizona State University basketball game and a behind the scenes tour. When my husband told me the tour didn’t start until 7:00pm and the game wasn’t until 9:00, I told him that obviously we couldn’t go, as it was past the kids’ bedtime. But he convinced me how fun it would be, so I agreed. However, I told him he would be responsible for whatever meltdown’s our 3-year-old would definitely have before it was over.

We surprisingly got to Wells Fargo Arena several minutes early (we usually operate on KPT – Kid People Time). That automatically makes us at least 12 minutes late to any event we attend. We were met by our host, Kayla, who told us we would be heading to The Weatherup Center, the basketball practice facility. It was a few minutes away, so we took a golf cart to get there.

Riding through the streets on the golf cart would have been good enough for the kids. They had so much fun cruising down the road in the open air, watching the cars go by. They squealed at every bump (you feel them all in a golf cart). If we told them we were going home after that, they would have declared it a great time.

We quickly arrived at the Weatherup Center and our tour began.

As we learned about former players turned NBA stars, I discovered one of my favorite Lakers, Byron Scott, played for ASU.

As we walked through the offices and student lounge areas, we came to a display of Adidas apparel. Every player gets one of each of the items featured in the glass display. Can someone hook me up, please? For the kids of course.

We were then taken to see where the team watches game footage. I don’t know how they stay awake, because those chairs are mighty comfortable.

Next up, the basketball court where the team practices. We got to look out over the court in an area called the Coach’s Balcony. Basketball scouts also are known to hang out here.

Then the highlight of our visit to The Weatherup Center: going down to the basketball court where the players practice. The kids even got to shoot a few hoops. They definitely enjoyed that part.

We were having so much fun at the practice facility, we forgot there was an actual game coming up. Soon it was time to head back over to Wells Fargo Arena to watch the ASU vs. Stanford game. We hopped back in the golf cart and were on our way.

Once we got to the stadium, I was so glad we came. The whole family was in good spirits and ready to cheer for the Sun Devils! But first we were given gift bags. Hats, jackets, posters…it was like Christmas!

Time to enter the stadium. The players were still practicing, but the vibe was electric! The music was blasting, the players were out warming up. I gotta admit, I was pretty excited.

 

Before the game, we got to meet the voice of the Sun Devils, Tim Healey.

We hung out a bit more waiting for the game to start. Surprisingly, the kids were still holding up well, despite it being past their bedtimes.

 

My favorite part of the whole night was getting to be a part of the Spirit Tunnel. We welcomed the Sun Devils and got some high fives from the players!

Our behind the scenes VIP tour was over and it was time for the game.

The Sun Devils won 74-64. Our daughter screamed and cheered during the game and our son has a new favorite Sun Devils hat (and a small crush on our host).  We had a great time and a wonderful experience!