Playing Against Their Second Home

GWANGJU – For the German basketball players Hans Brase, Maodo Lo, and Dennis Kramer the Universiade final was something special. All three of them call the country they played against their current home – the United States of America. Something that made losing to the USA, represented by the University of Kansas Jayhawks, in a game that went down to the wire even tougher.

“Of course you want to beat everyone. The USA is where I study and live,” said Brase after the double-overtime loss against his adoptive home. “We started slow but then our defense got better. We had our chances to win the game. We made plays, we played well. Too bad we didn’t beat them.”

While Brase and Lo play for East Coast teams – namely the University of Princeton Tigers and the Columbia University Lions – and in the same division called Ivy League, Kramer plays ball for the University of California, San Diego Tritons.

Brase, a sociology major, has lived in the United States for almost all of his life. Like Maodo Lo he is now entering his senior season: “Maodo and I, we know each other not only from the national team but also from college basketball. We play against each other in our division. It was a great experience to play with him on the same team for one summer. Now we will be opponents again for another year.”

It will be their last year at an American college. Back at Princeton, Columbia, and San Diego Brase, Lo, and Kramer will see their American teammates again. After falling short to the country he lives in, Brase might have to expect some friendly teasing by his teammates at Princeton University.

Max Länge (GER), FISU Young Reporter