MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. — When Goshen College basketball coach Neal Young’s players arrived on campus on a recent Thursday morning, most had no idea where they were going that day.

Their coach had promised them if they attended the final minicamp of the summer, they would get to play a game. Looking to improve on a 15-16 record last season, the players would relish any extra scrimmage time they could get.

He didn’t tell them who they’d be playing. All they knew was Young said it would be a “unique experience.”

Some players wondered if they might be scrimmaging Notre Dame, which would be a formidable challenge for Goshen, an NAIA school in northeastern Indiana with an undergraduate enrollment of about 900.

“All right, guys,” Young said as the players gathered around. “Today we’re going to be going to Michigan City to play the state prison team.”

Silence, and a few awkward smiles followed. As they walk out to the bus five minutes later, one player whispers to another teammate, “I bet they’re really good. They probably play all the time.”

When the bus pulls up to the facility, Young stops at the checkpoint, manned by a guard. They park the bus and walk in to be searched. Young tells his players they can’t bring anything in except their IDs. No change of clothes. No phones. No water bottles.

Later, Goshen guard Billy Geschke said he was nervous during the walk into the prison.

A guard examines each player’s ID. After that, it’s through the metal detector, with players taking any remaining belongings, including shoes, off and placing them in a bucket. Another guard frisks each person.

All 10 players and three coaches make it through. Mark Hubbard, the man coordinating the visit, counts everyone again. He counts twice more before everyone enters the first set of interlocking doors that quietly slam shut.

Hubbard explains that Michigan City is a maximum security facility. Young asks what the average sentence is.

“Forty-five years,” Hubbard says.

“Four to five?” Young asks.

“No, 45.”

Several of the offenders are in for murder or other violent crimes. Some arrive after not cooperating with correctional officers at lower-level security facilities.

“There’s guys who have a lot of time to do here,” he says to the group. “Pretty much everyone who’s been in your newspapers who’ve done horrific things, they’re here.”

Hubbard gives a walking tour as he guides the group to the gym. He shows off the chapel, the fire station, and eventually points out the death row building. Michigan City houses the 12 males currently on death row in Indiana. It’s also where the executions take place.

The tour ends when the group walks past some picnic tables and shelter areas, and several basketball courts.

“Only the good ones get to play inside,” Hubbard says.

The prison facility is 150 years old and it shows. Paint is chipped. The air is stagnant. Hubbard later says it’s better than it could be. They brought in an extra fan just for Goshen’s visit.

The basketball court, however, is pristine. Also in the gym are pool tables, cardio machines, even video games.

“Anything to take their mind off this,” Hubbard said.

The team goes upstairs to Hubbard’s office. As the players walk past, one offender says to another, “I bet they scared to death.”

As the game gets under way, the opening minutes are tense for the Maple Leafs. They quickly find themselves down 7-5. A move past Trevor Commissaris brings offenders off the bench onto their feet, celebrating by acting like they’re taking pictures.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” Commissaris said after the game. “I didn’t know if they were going to try to hurt me or what.”

There are 16 players on the ISP team on this day. Players are chosen after tryouts, and then selected based on who has the best attitude. Hubbard puts the team together, and notes that since they’re playing outside teams, it’s important they have good attitudes. The team plays about 20 games a year.

“It was a lot more physical than our average conference game,” Geschke said after the game, noting that on one play early, he was shoved out of bounds.

The Maple Leafs start to make a comeback thanks to Commissaris, who makes two nice post moves consecutively to score. But the ISP team goes into halftime with a 58-55 lead. There are more than 30 offenders watching now.

“When our guys walked in, they were pretty quiet,” Young said after the game. “When the game started, they didn’t play very well, they were kind of timid.”

Goshen would go on to win 106-97, with both teams battling, diving on the floor for almost every loose ball.

“By the end of the game,” Young said, “(our players) were talking more, they were mixing it up on the court, playing better. You saw the growth take place in those two hours.”

After the game, both teams shake hands, exchanging hugs and smiles.

“They’re just like normal guys,” Commissaris said with a smile right after the game. “They were asking us about college. They were just talking to us like normal people.”

Back at Goshen College, Young explains he had been hoping to do this for a while. He had done it as a player himself, and still counts it as one of his favorite basketball memories.

“I went and played there as a kid, and after I went and played there, I remember just my perception of prison and inmates, just how much that changed,” he said.

He wanted to give his guys the same experience. And he wanted them to grow. He said growth can’t take place in situations where guys are comfortable, and he believes life — and the game of basketball — is about adapting to your situation, getting comfortable when you’re uncomfortable.

He also wanted his guys to have a better appreciation for what they have.

“I feel like my job is to win basketball games,” he said, “but my purpose is to really grow and mentor my guys and produce really great husbands, great fathers, great leaders in their communities.

“They’ll probably remember this for the rest of their life.”

Howard writes for the Goshen (Ind.) News.