Michael Kennedy
While all Crusader athletes have to travel for games, some have traveled thousands of miles just to be here at the University of Dallas. Originally from Epsom Surrey, England, Michael Kennedy is a junior computer science major and plays for UD’s basketball team.
Kennedy was recruited by UD’s athletic department and was quickly accepted to UD in the fall of his senior year of highschool. Kennedy and his family flew out to visit UD in spring 2022. This trip to UD was his first time coming to the United States.
Back at home, Kennedy grew up playing soccer, called football by the English, and began playing basketball in the seventh grade with his friends for fun. In the ninth grade, he began to take basketball more seriously. He said, “being six-foot-eight definitely helps.”
Some of Kennedy’s favorite moments have been meals with his teammates off the courts. One of his memorable stories from his time with the team was their trip earlier this semester to Colorado. The Crusaders began the weekend with a game in Houston, and Saturday was spent driving from Houston to Dallas, then boarding a plane to Colorado. The bus that took the team from the airport to Colorado College broke down, and the hotel had no running water. The team arrived back at UD Monday morning at 4:30 a.m., and Kennedy went to class at 9 a.m..
“I can look back and laugh now. Oh, man, that was a pretty rough weekend,” Kennedy said.
Despite their crazy weekend, UD won against Colorado College!
In addition to traveling for games, Kennedy enjoys traveling during breaks. He said, “I went to San Diego this spring break. It’s a beautiful place, we spent some time in LA, which was maybe the weirdest place I’ve ever seen in my life. You look over and you can see the Hollywood sign in the distance. But then you take two wrong turns, and suddenly it’s kind of like South London, where I’m from.”
Kennedy was unable to go to Rome in the summer, but he recommends that any UD students traveling to the UK during their semester abroad should visit the London dungeons, Wembley Stadium, Buckingham Palace, Bath and “if you’re a student looking to party, you should go over to Bristol.”
As a representative from England, the birthplace of rugby, Kennedy was asked for his opinion on UD’s rugby team.
He said, “My dad’s quite a big rugby fan, and he visited me maybe two months ago. He went to watch one of the games, and was actually very thoroughly impressed.”
When discussing fan attendance at the basketball games this past year, Kennedy said “we have some very dedicated fans that we love and appreciate, and it would be great to pack out the stands. We’re trying to get people to come out to the basketball games, because everyone comes out to the intramurals and they have a good time, but then no one ever thinks of coming to the basketball games.”
While the basketball season is over for this semester, Kennedy will continue to play this fall. We hope to see you all in the stands next season!