Trip of a lifetime for Gonzaga basketball team

Gonzaga will open the college basketball season with the longest and most unique road trip in program history.

The Zags face Pittsburgh on Friday in the Armed Forces Classic at Marines Corps Base Smedley D. Butler in Okinawa, Japan. It’s nearly a full day of travel, covering 5,900 air miles for Gonzaga and 7,500 for Pitt. Gonzaga on Tuesday morning flew to Seattle followed by an 11-hour flight to Tokyo. There, the Zags and Panthers were scheduled to be on the same 3-hour flight to Okinawa.

The game is the centerpiece of ESPN’s seventh-annual tribute to America’s heroes. This is the fourth Armed Forces Classic, with previous contests staged at military bases in Puerto Rico, South Korea and Germany.

“The experience is going to be incredible, a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” GU coach Mark Few said. “ESPN and the Marine Base will do a great job of really immersing our guys in a short time into what life is like over there for people serving our country.”

The game tips off at 4 p.m. PST. Okinawa is 17 hours ahead so tip time there will be 9 a.m. Saturday. Players will have to deal with the lengthy travel and try to coordinate their internal clocks to be ready for a morning game.

“There are some challenges … but to do something special, to do a once-in-a-lifetime thing, there is a reason why you have to work for it, you have to earn it, you have to make some sacrifices and that’s what we are doing,” Panthers coach Jamie Dixon said. “This is an experience they are going to remember for the rest of their lives.”

The Zags have a rough outline of some of the trip highlights. Plans include various base activities with visits to the shooting range and flight area. Players from both teams will help at a clinic for about 150 youngsters. Following the game, the teams will attend a luncheon and a Japanese cultural celebration.

“When I heard the news we were going I was really excited,” Gonzaga center Przemek Karnowski said. “I’ve never been at a military base so I’m excited about the trip. It’s a long way over there so we need to make sure we take good care of our bodies.”

Gonzaga anticipates holding one practice at a gym on the base and another at Foster Fieldhouse, the game-day facility. ESPN on Monday tweeted pictures of the court installation and portable bleachers beyond the baselines and sidelines. There will be seating for approximately 3,100.

ESPN is planning features on the Battle of Okinawa, Marine jungle warfare training, the current military presence on the island and “sense of place and life on the base” vignettes. There will be segments documenting the teams’ trips and activities upon their arrival.

The ninth-ranked Zags will stay at the Westpac Lodge on the base.

Gonzaga was considered for the 2011 Carrier Classic played on an aircraft carrier in San Diego. The invitation eventually went to North Carolina, which defeated Michigan State.

“It’s an opportunity most of us wouldn’t have without basketball,” senior guard Eric McClellan said. “When we step between those lines it’s all business but at the same time this is a blessing and a tremendous opportunity for all of us.”