Oct. 16, 2007
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - Popularity-wise, basketball is far behind soccer in Europe. This is especially true in Holland. The game is making strides in the country and UCF's Kenrick Zondervan (Hoofddorp, Holland) hopes to be a part of it. This past summer, the junior center had the opportunity to train with the Dutch Senior National Team.
He spent a week in late August in his homeland practicing with the team, which included several professional players, most notably power forward Francisco Elson.
Elson plays for San Antonio in the National Basketball Association. The seven-footer appeared in 70 regular-season contests with the world champion Spurs a year ago, averaging five points and 4.8 boards.
Zondervan feels that going against his countrymen will make him a better player for the Knights.
"I think it gave me a lot of experience," he said. "He (Elson) is strong. Playing against him gave me a lot of confidence. When I got out there, I just tried to play as well as I could."
Zondervan showed great improvement as a sophomore a year ago. He started 30 contests and averaged 3.9 points and 2.8 boards. As a freshman in 2005-06, Zondervan averaged just 2.5 minutes an outing as he adapted to playing the game in the United States.
Season tickets are currently available by calling 407-UCF-1000. One lucky season ticket holder for will get to drive home from the new UCF Arena in a brand new 2008 UCF edition Mazda CX-9, courtesy of Classic Mazda, the presenting sponsor of this year's season ticket drive. UCF fans who purchase two season tickets be entered into a drawing to win the 2008 UCF edition Mazda CX-9.
The Knights open the campaign at home on Nov. 11 against Nevada. The squad will play 16 regular-season contests at home this year.
For the latest news and information on the Knights, tickets or apparel, log on to www.ucfathletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. Also check out ,a href="http://www.ucfphotos.com/">www.ucfphotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.
Notes: The Knights are not scheduled to practice on Wednesday... An advertisement highlighting the UCF's basketball season ticket promotion with Classic Mazda appeared in the Orlando Sentinel's sports section on Tuesday.