A homecoming game like no other

For the first time in college basketball history, the University of Connecticut Huskies and Michigan State Spartans played a regular season game in Germany, but for three Huskies, it wasn’t their first time here.

Enosch Wolf, Niels Giffey and Leon Tolksdorf all grew up in Germany.
Giffey and Tolksdorf grew up in the busy city of Berlin and Wolf grew up in Göttingen in the state of Niedersachsen.

These three were able to seize the golden opportunity to come back to their home country, in front of family and friends, and play the game they love: basketball.
Basketball’s popularity is on the rise in Germany, and these talented athletes playing for UConn are proof.

“In the last five or six years, basketball has been getting a lot better in Germany, especially with Dirk Nowitski. He helped make basketball a lot more popular in Germany,” Wolf said.

Tolksdorf said that as a German, Dirk Nowitzki is one of his idols.

“He is a great basketball player but also a great person and is definitely a guy every basketball player can look up to,” he said.

For Tolksdorf, this was his first regular season game on an Air Force base in his home country.

“It’s a great honor to play on an Air Force base and get to see what all the (Airmen) do for their country,” Tolksdorf said. “We are all really happy to be here and (are) ready to play.”

This was an extremely unique opportunity for both teams.

During the game, Giffey scored three points in 14 minutes of play.

Wolf followed with 11 minutes, two points and a single block late in the first half. Tolksdorf did not see any playtime in the season opening game.