SE: K-State Basketball’s Overseas Alumni on Getting Home During a Pandemic
May 01, 2020 | Men's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: Austin Siegel
Lance Harris hung up the phone and started shoving everything into a bag.
The American embassy in Montenegro had a seat for him on a flight to Paris, as countries around the world tried to get their citizens home before international borders began to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Harris had been calling the American embassy for weeks. Now, with a flight booked to Paris and hopefully onto the United States, there was only one problem.
It was 11 a.m. and the flight to Paris left that afternoon. Harris had to go right now.
"It was a charter flight from Podgorica to Paris," he said. "Two of the other guys had families so it was impossible for them to get ready in an hour…I left a lot of stuff in Montenegro."
That's how Harris began a 76-hour odyssey from the coastal town of Bar, where he played for the Montenegrin team KK Mornar Bar, to his home in Missouri, against the backdrop of an unfolding global pandemic.
COVID-19 and social distancing measures have made experiences that once seemed impossible a part of daily life for K-State alumni around the world. Former Wildcat basketball players like Harris have just found those moments a little harder to believe.
For Thomas Gipson, it was falling asleep next to his one-year-old son at an airport in Belarus.
"He's a handful, people probably mistake him for being older than he actually is just because of his size," Gipson said. "When he's at the top of his lungs, it's tough. People are looking at us like 'Shut that big baby up.' Obviously, nobody says anything, but I know it gets to people because it sure gets to me."
Gipson was playing his first season in Turkey when the COVID-19 outbreak began to shutter basketball leagues across the world. Unlike the NBA, the Turkish league played a few games in empty arenas before suspending the season in March.
"Obviously, I took the games seriously, but I viewed it as a scrimmage," Gipson said. "At the time, my team was winning. It was pretty smooth for us and we didn't have any problem blowing teams out, so we were just trying to have fun."
Gipson is the only American on his Turkish team, Merkezefendi Belediyesi Denizli Basket, but his wife and one-year-old son joined him in the town of Denizli.
When it became clear that COVID-19 would make traveling a challenge, the Gipson family began working with the American embassy in Turkey to find a way home.
Without non-stop international flights to the United States, getting home was about connecting the dots across countries for Harris and Gipson.
After arriving in Paris from Montenegro, Harris discovered that custom officials were no longer allowing foreign citizens into the country.
Since he arrived on a chartered flight, Harris had to watch as his bags spun around and around on a baggage claim, knowing he couldn't go through French customs to pick them up.
"We had to sleep in the airport on the floor," Harris said. "We flew out the next morning from Paris to Amsterdam, then Amsterdam to Atlanta. I got to Atlanta and all the flights were canceled. So, I rented a car, drove to Chattanooga, stayed the night there, woke up the next morning and drove eight hours to St. Louis."
Once in St. Louis, Harris spent two weeks at a relative's house in quarantine before coming back home to stay with his family.
"I drove by my house, so my wife and kids could come out and say hi," Harris said. "We hadn't seen each other for a while, so that was kind of tough. My youngest boy is two years old, so he didn't understand what was going on exactly. He was like, 'Why are you not coming over here?'"
Gipson and his family drove six hours from Denzili to Istanbul and flew to Belarus, where they slept at the airport before flying to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Atlanta and Atlanta to Dallas.
That meant Gipson got to be with his family last week, when his brother, Tulsa defensive end Trevis Gipson, was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
After a career that's taken him through Finland, France, Ukraine, Panama, Argentina and Turkey, Gipson said that coming back home to Texas is always special.
"I couldn't sleep at all because I was so excited," Gipson said. "I have a little routine whenever I get home…I usually get in late at night, spend time with my family and go to Whataburger."
For basketball players like Harris and Gipson who make their living overseas, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic could have been even more severe.
Last year, Gipson played for Ciclista Olímpico in Argentina, where his former teammates are unable to leave their homes without facing arrest due to social distancing laws.
"If they leave the house they go to jail. Police are scouting the streets day and night," Gipson said. "You can go to the store, but if the police think you're out there just chilling, you're going to go to jail. Two of my former teammates were arrested because of that."
Issues with team management are also common, as Gipson said he's working to get reimbursement from his team in Turkey after flying home. It's one reason Gipson is hoping to sign with a team in the G-League once basketball returns.
Back home, Harris is dealing with the challenges that come from having to look after his three kids with their elementary school closed.
Even without basketball, he's still making the best of those hard-to-believe moments.
"We're doing home-schooling. They do a lot of stuff through Zoom, but we have to be the teachers. They don't understand why they can't play with their friends right now and that's been the most challenging part," Harris said. "I've been a teacher, a friend and a Dad."
Lance Harris hung up the phone and started shoving everything into a bag.
The American embassy in Montenegro had a seat for him on a flight to Paris, as countries around the world tried to get their citizens home before international borders began to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Harris had been calling the American embassy for weeks. Now, with a flight booked to Paris and hopefully onto the United States, there was only one problem.
It was 11 a.m. and the flight to Paris left that afternoon. Harris had to go right now.
"It was a charter flight from Podgorica to Paris," he said. "Two of the other guys had families so it was impossible for them to get ready in an hour…I left a lot of stuff in Montenegro."
That's how Harris began a 76-hour odyssey from the coastal town of Bar, where he played for the Montenegrin team KK Mornar Bar, to his home in Missouri, against the backdrop of an unfolding global pandemic.
COVID-19 and social distancing measures have made experiences that once seemed impossible a part of daily life for K-State alumni around the world. Former Wildcat basketball players like Harris have just found those moments a little harder to believe.
For Thomas Gipson, it was falling asleep next to his one-year-old son at an airport in Belarus.
"He's a handful, people probably mistake him for being older than he actually is just because of his size," Gipson said. "When he's at the top of his lungs, it's tough. People are looking at us like 'Shut that big baby up.' Obviously, nobody says anything, but I know it gets to people because it sure gets to me."
Gipson was playing his first season in Turkey when the COVID-19 outbreak began to shutter basketball leagues across the world. Unlike the NBA, the Turkish league played a few games in empty arenas before suspending the season in March.
"Obviously, I took the games seriously, but I viewed it as a scrimmage," Gipson said. "At the time, my team was winning. It was pretty smooth for us and we didn't have any problem blowing teams out, so we were just trying to have fun."
Gipson is the only American on his Turkish team, Merkezefendi Belediyesi Denizli Basket, but his wife and one-year-old son joined him in the town of Denizli.
When it became clear that COVID-19 would make traveling a challenge, the Gipson family began working with the American embassy in Turkey to find a way home.
Without non-stop international flights to the United States, getting home was about connecting the dots across countries for Harris and Gipson.
After arriving in Paris from Montenegro, Harris discovered that custom officials were no longer allowing foreign citizens into the country.
Since he arrived on a chartered flight, Harris had to watch as his bags spun around and around on a baggage claim, knowing he couldn't go through French customs to pick them up.
"We had to sleep in the airport on the floor," Harris said. "We flew out the next morning from Paris to Amsterdam, then Amsterdam to Atlanta. I got to Atlanta and all the flights were canceled. So, I rented a car, drove to Chattanooga, stayed the night there, woke up the next morning and drove eight hours to St. Louis."
Once in St. Louis, Harris spent two weeks at a relative's house in quarantine before coming back home to stay with his family.
"I drove by my house, so my wife and kids could come out and say hi," Harris said. "We hadn't seen each other for a while, so that was kind of tough. My youngest boy is two years old, so he didn't understand what was going on exactly. He was like, 'Why are you not coming over here?'"
Gipson and his family drove six hours from Denzili to Istanbul and flew to Belarus, where they slept at the airport before flying to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Atlanta and Atlanta to Dallas.
That meant Gipson got to be with his family last week, when his brother, Tulsa defensive end Trevis Gipson, was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
After a career that's taken him through Finland, France, Ukraine, Panama, Argentina and Turkey, Gipson said that coming back home to Texas is always special.
"I couldn't sleep at all because I was so excited," Gipson said. "I have a little routine whenever I get home…I usually get in late at night, spend time with my family and go to Whataburger."
For basketball players like Harris and Gipson who make their living overseas, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic could have been even more severe.
Last year, Gipson played for Ciclista Olímpico in Argentina, where his former teammates are unable to leave their homes without facing arrest due to social distancing laws.
"If they leave the house they go to jail. Police are scouting the streets day and night," Gipson said. "You can go to the store, but if the police think you're out there just chilling, you're going to go to jail. Two of my former teammates were arrested because of that."
Issues with team management are also common, as Gipson said he's working to get reimbursement from his team in Turkey after flying home. It's one reason Gipson is hoping to sign with a team in the G-League once basketball returns.
Back home, Harris is dealing with the challenges that come from having to look after his three kids with their elementary school closed.
Even without basketball, he's still making the best of those hard-to-believe moments.
"We're doing home-schooling. They do a lot of stuff through Zoom, but we have to be the teachers. They don't understand why they can't play with their friends right now and that's been the most challenging part," Harris said. "I've been a teacher, a friend and a Dad."
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