Advertisement

Utah governor sets up basketball court just to celebrate with Lone Peak boys basketball team

Utah's Governor Gary R. Herbert declared Friday "Lone Peak High School Men's Basketball Day," constructed a basketball court inside the state capitol, invited the Knights to shoot hoops with him and proceeded to tweet about it (h/t MaxPreps).

Lone Peak (Highland, Utah) High capped a 26-1 season to capture its third consecutive Class 5A state championship and sixth title in the past nine seasons. The Knights are ranked as the nation's No. 3 boys basketball team by USA Today.

The Utah Senate published a video of the Governor's elaborate scheme on YouTube. Let's quickly run through the three greatest parts of the video:

1) Obviously, any time a government official can figure out a way to use his taxpayers' time and money to construct a basketball court inside the capitol building and proceed to shoot hoops while hundreds of fellow publicly paid employees are forced to watch on a Friday afternoon, without question he must do this, correct?

2) Did Herbert really drain his first eight jump shots and finish 8-of-10 during this event, or was that some editing handiwork from Utah's official Secretary of YouTube Affairs? A little bit of Google research revealed that Herbert reportedly served as captain and point guard of the boys basketball team at his alma mater Orem (Utah) High. He also quarterbacked the football team and served as captain of the baseball squad.

3) You've gotta love the song selection for the Governor's video -- Montell Jordan's "This Is How We Do It" -- particularly for an event celebrating a team that will have many of its stars soon serving as missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I'm sure the Lone Peak players can relate to Jordan's lyrics like "I reach for my 40," "all the gang bangers forgot about the drive-by," "I'm kinda buzzed, and it's all because South Central does it like nobody does" and "I gotta get mine in a big black truck."

I'm sure you'll be shocked to know that Gov. Herbert is a Republican, but regardless of where you lean politically, I think we can all agree that "Lone Peak High School Men's Basketball Day" was one of the best days ever in Utah's governing history.

Want more on the best stories in high school sports? Visit RivalsHigh or connect with Prep Rally on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.