(LEXINGTON, Ky.) – Although basketball is already big in China, Kentucky Basketball has yet to make a splash in the land of Genghis Khan and Chairman Mao. Beginning this upcoming season, however, that’s all about to change. Chinese fans from Beijing to Binzhou, from Shanghai to Shanxi, from Tiananmen Square to the Terracotta Army will now be able to tune in to Mandarin based broadcasts of UK Basketball games distributed through the JMI Sports Network.

How big is this news? It’s huge—let me tell you why. Chinese people have always loved basketball. Unfortunately, we’ve just never been any good at it. Most of us are short, slow, and we can’t create our own shot to save our life. Other than Yao Ming, name me one other Chinese player who made it to the NBA. Wang Zhizhi and Mengke Bateer were outright busts. Yi Jianlian and Sun Yue never panned out. Jeremy Lin was a flash in the pan, and many don’t even classify him as a real Chinese. Just by sheer numbers alone, a country of 1.4 billion people should have produced more than this small handful of professional prospects.

Despite our shortcomings, Chinese people are no different than anyone else. We all love a winner—and who better a winner than the school currently laying claim to the greatest tradition in the history of college basketball. You heard it here first. Once these audio game broadcasts are available, hundreds of thousands of Chinese basketball fans worldwide will flock to the antics of PJ, EJ, and DJ. They’ll learn all about our 8 national championships, the house that Rupp built, and the colossal devotion of the BBN. They’ll absolutely fall in love with Coach Cal’s magical touch as they quickly succumb to the Chinese version of his blue Kool-Aid.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. UK AD Mitch Barnhart has always claimed that his athletic programs serve as the front porch for those wanting to become a part of the University of Kentucky. If that’s truly the case, imagine all those future potential enrollees in China, developing an early allegiance to the Big Blue, while listening to the Wildcats claw their way to Championship Number Nine. They’ll be quick to learn that Lexington, Kentucky is also where their NBA heroes—such as John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, and Karl Towns played their college ball. Trust me, in subsequent years they’ll be beating down the doors to admission, adding to the coffers of the ever-growing UK treasury. Sponsors should also be forming a line as we speak. You think McDonald’s and Coca Cola would be interested in adding a billion people to their marketing base?

Don’t believe me yet about the magnitude of this broadcast reach? Let me introduce you to Haotian (Austin) Zhang, the talent who’s been tabbed to handle the primary broadcasting duties during these games. Some of you may already know Austin as the prominent Asian dude donning the Kentucky Jersey in the front row of the ERUPPtion Zone. Austin recently graduated from the school of his dreams with a business degree in management. Fortunately for all of us, he’s been accepted into the UK Master of Science in Finance program and will be around for quite some time. Already one of the biggest UK basketball fans I know, he’s looking forward to the challenge of being the first Chinese Cawood Ledford.

“Coach Cal and John Wall makes me know UK,” Austin enthusiastically answers, when asked about why he chose the University of Kentucky. “Anthony Davis makes me love UK. Karl Towns make me proud of UK.”

Austin recently gained fame by directly asking John Calipari during his Coach’s show why he didn’t recruit Chinese players to UK. Knowing Coach Cal, he’ll use these broadcasts to get tabs on the next great Chinese Lebron, currently oblivious to Wildcat ways—but through the magic of the world wide web, will soon be a passionate disciple of the BBN. Kentucky recruit James Wiseman allegedly also speaks Chinese. Are you listening, James?

Watch out Chinese world, Big Blue Nation is coming for you.

John Huang is Chinese. He currently covers University of Kentucky Sports for Nolan Media Group. If you enjoy his writing, you can read more at www.huangswhinings.com or follow him on Twitter @KYHuangs.