Michigan, Purdue show love for Rockhurst prior to Sweet 16

Ryan Crawford, Staff Writer
March 22, 2017

As a small university in the heart of a big city, national attention is often hard to come by for Rockhurst University. Aside from the occasional report that ranks Rockhurst high in a certain academic program or a sports team that makes it deep in a national tournament, Rockhurst’s reach is mostly confined to Kansas City and the surrounding metropolitan areas.

That wasn’t the case Wednesday morning, though, when the Michigan Wolverines and Purdue Boilermakers visited the Mason-Halpin Fieldhouse on Rockhurst’s campus to prep for their matchups in the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16. The Wolverines face the Oregon Ducks at 6:09 p.m. Thursday at the Sprint Center in downtown Kansas City, while Purdue takes on the hometown favorite Kansas Jayhawks at approximately 8:39 p.m., following Michigan and Oregon’s contest. The winners of Thursday’s regional semifinal games will play Saturday at the Sprint Center for a trip to the Final Four.

This isn’t the first time this year that Rockhurst has hosted large-profile Divison I basketball programs. Just a couple weeks ago, teams from the Big 12 conference were in Kansas City and utilized Mason-Halpin as a practice facility. The fieldhouse was a hotspot for teams taking part in the NAIA national tournament last week, too, which was held at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.

Both the Wolverines and Boilermakers posted pictures and videos of their visit at Rockhurst on social media. The Wolverines tweeted, “We have arrived at Rockhurst Univ. (@RUhawks) for our closed practice. We love your gym!” Purdue was thankful too, tweeting, “Thanks @RUhawks for allowing us to get a practice in!”