President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron’s visit to the first day of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship First Four was a slam dunk of media coverage for the University of Dayton, university officials said Wednesday. 

News outlets in the United States and the U.K. covered Tuesday’s visit from “wheels up to wheels down of Air Force One,” generating thousands of online stories and mentions. 

It was March Madness for sure, but with babies as well as basketballs and global hot dogs as well as hoops. Uncounted photos and videos were snapped of the president with a baby, the two world leaders munching on  hot dogs and both deep in conversations with UD students at UD Arena. 

When the president posed for a picture holding 22-week-old Henry Cline of Miamisburg, images of the tiny redhead in a patriotic striped shirt and black sneakers were broadcast around the world.

“It made the British evening news,” his father Zack Cline said Wednesday evening. “So we’re calling Henry an international man of mystery.”

His casual suggestion to a member of Obama's Secret Service detail turned into "a surreal moment" because the president "was such a nice guy," Henry's dad said. The photos of his son and the president are headed for Henry's baby book.

The excitement at the arena -- punctuated by a rousing come-from-behind victory by Western Kentucky over Mississippi Valley State as well as the picturesque moment with baby Henry --  was preceded by state, regional and local government officials and  excited airmen who greeted the president at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base upon his arrival.

According to UD officials, a Google search performed Wednesday morning turned up more than 5,000 hits (and counting) of online stories of all kinds mentioning UD and Obama in connection with the First Four. Stories were posted across the nation and international coverage included Canada, Indonesia, Argentina, Malaysia and the Philippines. 

According to the Cision media-tracking service, Obama's visit to UD was mentioned an estimated 800 times in news outlets, with 520 mentions in the top-100 U.S. media markets for an advertising value of an estimated $386,000.

UD seized the opportunity to take its unique brand worldwide, noted The Washington Post in its Campus Overload blog. "This year, the private Catholic university is using the national spotlight as a branding opportunity, sending out a flurry of press releases and buying a full-page ad in U.S. Airways magazine that proclaims: "No matter who's in the tournament, Dayton takes the lead." 

Dozens of high-profile publications and outlets such as The Washington Post, ESPN, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News carried stories, photos and videos of the visit.  

Obama told CBS Sports, in the only interview of the two at the event, that he was happy to bring Cameron to the heartland of the U.S. The CBS story said the president praised Ohio, saying he was glad he had been able to bring Cameron to the state. 

“I thought it was going to be wonderful for the prime minister to have a chance not only to see a basketball game for the first time, but also to come to the great state of Ohio,” said Obama. “Because sometimes when we have foreign visitors they're only visiting the coasts. They go to New York, they go to Washington, they go to Los Angeles. But, you know, the heartland is what it's all about." 

U.K. outlets covering the visit included the BBC, The Telegraph and The Times and Reuters news service.

Staff Writer Katie Wedell contribtuted to this report.