Originally published on Nov. 23, 1997.
The Great Alaska Shootout carries a tradition of great college basketball, but it is also known for unexpected incidents indigenous to the 49th state.
Like snowstorms, icy weather and earthquakes.
Actually, a major earthquake in 1987 didn't shake things up during a game. But the jolt, centered 300 miles southeast of Anchorage and measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale, rattled the nerves of players and coaches while they were in their hotel rooms.
"It was kind of frightening at first, but it was interesting at the same time, " said Rony Seikaly, a center on that year's Syracuse team.
Sean Elliott, the tournament's most valuable player that year, said he thought University of Arizona teammate Anthony Cook was playing a trick on him.
"We've got some jokesters on our team, and I thought Anthony was shaking the bed," Elliott said. "I looked at him and he said, 'Did you feel that?' And I said, 'Uh-oh.' "
For most players, the Shootout marks their first trip to Alaska and many are caught off-guard by winter weather.
"I arrived there wearing leather shoes, and as a freshman, I didn't have a lot of clothes to begin with," recalled Sam Perkins, who played in the 1980 tournament with the University of North Carolina.
Kentucky guard Wayne Turner found out in 1996 how cold it can get in Alaska. The Wildcats were visiting Iditarod champion Martin Buser at his home in Big Lake, and several players took a snowmachine ride.
"I was on a one-man machine, and we had taken turns riding it, and I went out by myself, " Turner said. "… I heard the place was very cold, it got dark early in the evening, and there were dog sleds.
"I was having a great time. It was fun, and I didn't want to stop."
Back at Buser's house, the rest of the team joked about Turner's solo ride. But the banter ended when 2.5 hours passed without Turner's return.
"We became really concerned, " said Brooks Downing, Kentucky's sports information director. "I had been to Alaska before, and I know what that Last Frontier wilderness is like."
Turner tried to find a trail back to Buser's house, but darkness hampered his effort.
"I tried to keep backtracking, because after a while I thought some of my teammates would find me, " he said.
He finally bumped into two local snowmachiners and followed them back to their house.
"I told them who I was, that I had gotten lost and we were visiting this guy who had won a big race, " Turner said. "It surprised me that they knew who I was talking about."
The couple guided Turner back to Buser's.
"It was scary when it got dark and started to get cold, " said Turner. "There were nice views in Alaska, and it's really pretty with the snow. But I'd rather live in Boston than Alaska."
Steve Kerr's 1987 Shootout experience with Arizona included a snowball fight and a fashion shoot.
The night before their championship victory over Syracuse, Kerr and his teammates had a snowball fight while running through the streets near their downtown hotel.
He also became a fashion model of sorts while in Anchorage.
Sports Illustrated, in town to do a special photo shoot with him, borrowed a fur coat for Kerr to wear in front of a snowy Alaska backdrop. The pictures were never published, but ESPN showed footage of Kerr wearing the coat.
"They give you these nifty fur coats, " Kerr joked into the camera.
The one-liner created a bit of a stir at UAA, which received several calls of complaint from people who believed the school was giving players such lavish gifts.
One year, the school almost didn't have trophies to give away. At the 1981 tournament, UAA coach Harry Larrabee slipped on the ice in front of Buckner Fieldhouse on Fort Richardson while carrying a box filled with the all-tournament-team trophies.
"My arms and butt were so sore that I limped in carrying this box of broken trophies," he said.
The classic Shootout story belongs to Tito Horford, who grew up in the Dominican Republic and came to the 1987 Shootout with the University of Miami. The 7-foot-1 center was greeted by a snowy landscape and an icy wind when Miami arrived at Anchorage International Airport, prompting one of the all-time best Shootout quotes.
"I can't believe humans live here, " Horford said.
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner sports editor Danny Martin covered sports for the ADN from 1989-2001. This story first appeared on Nov. 23, 1997.