Marion Native and Wisconsin Badger Tweets His Way to Visit By President Obama But Not a Pick-Up Game

Marion native Zach Bohannon was profiled in a recent Gazette story for his political ambitions to be the youngest Republican president.

But the story behind how he met the current president is much more interesting.

Turns out, the current University of Wisconsin basketball player used his Twitter account and the help of a few friends, to get Barack Obama to visit his team. 

Regardless your views, @BarackObama needs some stress relief tomorrow. A pick-up game of basketball to get some exercise would be perfect!

The Wisconsin Badger started sending tweets requesting the president to play basketball a little before the president's Oct. 4 stop in Madison, home of the University of Wisconsin.

He got his teammate, Georgie Marshall, to contact a Democratic donor he knew who knew President Obama, according to the Gazette.

Soon after, his tweets and requests went viral and spread like wildfire to state and national media.

"I’m like, ‘Guys keep retweeting, let’s get the support,'" Bohannon told the Gazette. "The national media picked up on it. ‘If he turns us down, it’s only going to look bad for him.'"

Obama agreed to meet with the team on his visit.

His visit lasted for 10 minutes, and didn't include a pickup game like Bohannon had hoped, but it doesn't seem like something he'll soon forget.

"He was just like a regular, normal guy," Bohannon told CBS Sports. "He said he didn't have time to play pickup, but that he'd come back after the election and play with us."

To read more about his political ambitions, check out this story from the Gazette.