Fans Arrive To Twin Cities Ahead Of Final Four
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Amidst the midweek business travel hustle, there's an extra buzz of excitement at MSP Airport.
Deron Harding from Baltimore is one of the Final Four early birds. It's his first time in Minnesota.
"When I think of Minnesota, I think of Randy Moss and the Minnesota Vikings. Chris Carter and those guys. When I think of Minnesota, also I think of frigid weather," Harding said.
But this week, Minnesota is all about basketball.
Harding is helping manage the college all star game -- a free event at U.S. Bank Stadium Friday.
"There will be scouts there so those guys will be on audition to try and get to the NBA, so it's a really high level of basketball," Harding said.
One of those all stars just arriving to town is James Palmer from Nebraska who knows firsthand the tournament will be terrific.
"Think you should expect some great games," Palmer said. "Played against Texas Tech earlier in the year. I played against Virginia when I was in Miami, so two great teams. Three teams out of four I played against."
Palmer arrived to an airport full of eager volunteers. Regular visitors weren't surprised by the Minnesota nice.
"This is a great state. I'm sure it's gonna be a great experience for all the fans, all of the teams that come and be a part of it," Andrew Francis said.
Francis is a coach at Iowa and regularly recruits in the Twin Cities. He's got meetings and games to attend -- and a craving to tend to.
"Maybe try to get a Juicy Lucy," Francis said.
Francis told WCCO the last Juicy Lucy he had while he was in town was from the Nook in St. Paul. This is certainly the kind of week when we can show off all of those Minnesota specialties.
Who couldn't love our city? We have a free Ferris wheel in the middle of a street.