The Radford men’s basketball team will be taking a preseason tour across the Netherlands, Belgium and France this August in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the world, gain invaluable cultural experiences and test themselves against professional teams.
The team will hit the road, or in this case the skies, on Thursday, Aug. 2 and return to Radford on Saturday, Aug. 11. It all begins in Amsterdam, the Netherlands’ beautiful capital city. From there, the Highlanders head to Belgium for stops in Mechelen, Brussels, Ghent, Antwerp and Bruges before finishing up the trip in Paris, France.
“This is the kind of experience that college basketball players all around the country are hoping to have and we’re grateful to be able to do this,” said head coach Mike Jones. “It’s going to be an unbelievable experience for our players, coaches and staff leading into the 2018-19 school year.”
Another important aspect of the trip will be the learning opportunities. Radford Senior Associate Athletic Director Stephanie Ballein will be traveling with the team as well, conducting a one credit “Augustmester” class on the History and Culture of the Region with each of the undergraduate student-athletes.
The preseason tour is being organized by Global Sports Academy, who will help facilitate travel, organize the games and provide expert tour guides. Games will be played on Sunday, Aug. 5 in Brussels, Tuesday, Aug. 7 in Bruges and Thursday, Aug. 9 in Antwerp with some incredible sight-seeing scheduled every day in between. More information on Radford’s opponents is to come.
Radford players will have the chance to see first-hand the Breedonk Concentration Camp in Brussels and the Louvre in Paris amongst other things.
“We are really looking forward to going over to Europe to show the world what Radford basketball is all about,” said senior guard Caleb Tanner. “It’s going to be a great opportunity to see some different countries while playing the game we love.”
–RU Athletics
