Here's why ESPN's announcers were talking about ball pythons as Ohio State hosted Towson
Viewers who tuned into Wednesday night’s ESPNU broadcast of No. 21 Ohio State against Towson got more than a mid-major team coming up short in a bid for the road upset.
They learned more than they probably ever thought they would – or ever wanted to – about ball python snakes. In what was clearly a pre-planned talking point, color commentator Mark Adams spent the final minutes of the first half discussing the reptiles because one of the Buckeyes – second-year center Zed Key – has one as a pet.
Its name is 7, it has its own Instagram account and it likely picked up a few more followers after the Buckeyes withstood an early charge, pulled away during the second half and beat the Tigers, 85-74, in front of an announced crowd of 9,472 fans at Value City Arena.
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“He’s super chill, man,” Key told The Dispatch last season after getting the pet snake.
Key said 7 is the perfect pet for a basketball player because he only needs fed roughly once a week. When the Buckeyes travel for road games, Key doesn’t have to worry about having someone take care of the snake or feed him while he’s gone.
During the summer, first-year guard Malaki Branham said he was living with Gene Brown III, Meechie Johnson Jr. and Key and that he was happy 7 was spending the summer in Long Island, New York, with Key’s family.
“I’m kind of glad he’s there because I’m not a big fan of snakes at all,” he said with a laugh while playing in the Kingdom Summer League in early July at Ohio Dominican University.
“My sister’s been feeding him, giving him a lot of love,” Key said in late July. “She’s a good aunt.”
7 has modeled hats on his Instagram page and has been a visitor at coach Chris Holtmann’s house. Wednesday night, he appeared on screen with the Buckeyes trailing 30-26 and 2:19 to play in the first half. The camera focused on Key as he returned to the game and play-by-play man Mike Corey let Mark Adams take it away.
“Ball pythons are really interesting,” Adams said while pulling out an orange fake snake to illustrate his points. “They’re a constrictor. These little snakes, they can wrap around you and they squeeze the life out of you. So if you’re a rat in say Central Africa, good luck against the ball python. It’s probably not going to work out very well.”
Then the conversation took a turn.
“They become sexually active, Mike, at about 5 years old, and as a matter of fact right now is at the end of their mating season,” Adams said. “You’ve got to think that 7 the snake is probably pretty happy right now that mating season is basically close to being over.”
Adams said he knows a lot about ball pythons owing to a friend at South Florida. As the game continued, and E.J. Liddell hit a pair of free throws to pull within 30-28, Adams continued. Neither announcer was inside Value City Arena for the game.
“They’re constrictors,” Adams said of the snakes. “Think about Ohio State, who has held their opponents to 30% from 3 on the year, 40% overall on the year. That’s like a constrictor defense and that’s what they need right now to squeeze the life out of this Towson offense.
As if on cue, Key then scored on a hook shot to tie the game at 30 with 1:27 left, then blocked a Terry Nolan Jr. shot, grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 1:06 to play.
“There’s that constrictor-like defense from Zed Key inside, as he’s building a wall inside and squeezing the life out of the Towson offense,” Adams said while looking at the replay. “Look at him match up and devour his prey.”
And after Key’s block, the Ohio State center wagged his finger as Adams said, “Right now, 7 the snake has to be doing the jig. Great job by Zed Key, the owner of a ball python.”
Adams said he considered getting a live snake for the broadcast but instead opted for the fake one that stays in his office every day. Although his fake one was orange, Adams pointed out that ball pythons come in a variety of colors that can change.
“The females, when they become impregnated with their eggs, they typically get a lot darker,” he said. “You probably know a lot more than you wanted to know about a ball python tonight, but we come to ESPN prepared.”
It was hard to argue either point.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Zed Key's pet came up during the Ohio State, Towson broadcast
