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Coro: Spain trip offers GCU a head start
8/16/2017 9:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Lopes to play 3 games in 2 cities on 9-day visit
BARCELONA – There is nothing but good in the sound of a trip to Spain, but the meaning became even better to the Grand Canyon men's basketball team this month.
Coaches and players were able to get an early jump on the season with the NCAA allowance for 10 practices on campus before an international trip, which a program can schedule once per four years.
After 17 hours of travel to reach Spain, the Lopes will build on those practices with a nine-day training tour through Barcelona and Marbella. Coaches get an earlier, deeper evaluation with three exhibition games. As players, the Lopes get more coaching and competition. As students, they get a cultural experience with tours built into the itinerary.
The benefits started at GCU, where a pivotal season for the program tipped off before the start of classes with 10 practices in the new Basketball Practice Facility.
"We were able to get in some of the new guys, who are going to be a big part of our team, around the veterans of our team who understand how we practice and what we do," GCU head coach Dan Majerle said. "The timing is great (with a four-year Division I transition period ending). This hopefully will give us a leg up on other teams."
The Spanish trip will feature the debut of three freshmen – Latvian 6-foot-10 forward Roberts Blumbergs, Italian 6-foot-10 forward Alessandro Lever and Hayward, Calif., point guard Damari Milstead – and Oregon transfer Casey Benson as the Lopes' starting senior point guard.
"A lot of these international guys are really about the team and about winning," Majerle said of a team that already has returning imports from Finland (Fiifi Aidoo), Senegal (Ibrahima Sankare) and Australia (Gerard Martin and Matt Jackson). "Fundamentally, Alessandro and Roberts are pretty good. They are really high IQ guys and are very skilled, which is obviously what I like. As far as picking up things, they've been really good so that's a pleasant surprise."
Benson's transition was made smooth by his familiarity with the program. His brother, T.J., is a GCU assistant coach, and he has spent past summers playing pickup ball with Lopes players at GCU.
"He's fit in seamlessly with our guys because he's so smart, played at a high level and knows what I like to do already," Majerle said.
Lopes practices resumed Wednesday in Castelldefels, a nearby hillside town in the shadow of a 16th-century castle. The Lopes will play the first of three games on Thursday night, not long after Arizona State's team returned from a Spanish tour and just as Arizona's team concludes its Spanish visit.
"There'll definitely be a lot of sightseeing, but obviously it's basketball," Lopes senior Keonta Vernon said. "It's business at the end of the day. Like Coach Majerle said, when we scrimmage, we don't want to lose to anybody, regardless of whether nobody will know about it or it's the biggest game of the year."
The trip helps form an early team bond. A senior like Vernon is making his first trip out of the U.S. just the same as a freshman like Milstead.
"It's a great experience," Milstead said. "We can get some games and practices and get ahead as a team. I just want to see the culture. It builds team chemistry. All we've got is each other on the buses and plane rides. We spend a lot of quality time around each other. That's going to help us in the game situations with our chemistry."
The GCU staff learned from a team trip to Greece four years ago to not overemphasize the games or quality of competition. Majerle also scaled back on the team schedule to balance educational opportunities and bonding free time for the players.
"The games are nice, but it's more about the camaraderie of guys getting to know each other and practices like today," Majerle said. "Playing against other teams will be fun, and our guys will have a sense of going against other groups instead of just practicing against each other."
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
Coaches and players were able to get an early jump on the season with the NCAA allowance for 10 practices on campus before an international trip, which a program can schedule once per four years.
After 17 hours of travel to reach Spain, the Lopes will build on those practices with a nine-day training tour through Barcelona and Marbella. Coaches get an earlier, deeper evaluation with three exhibition games. As players, the Lopes get more coaching and competition. As students, they get a cultural experience with tours built into the itinerary.
The benefits started at GCU, where a pivotal season for the program tipped off before the start of classes with 10 practices in the new Basketball Practice Facility.
"We were able to get in some of the new guys, who are going to be a big part of our team, around the veterans of our team who understand how we practice and what we do," GCU head coach Dan Majerle said. "The timing is great (with a four-year Division I transition period ending). This hopefully will give us a leg up on other teams."
The Spanish trip will feature the debut of three freshmen – Latvian 6-foot-10 forward Roberts Blumbergs, Italian 6-foot-10 forward Alessandro Lever and Hayward, Calif., point guard Damari Milstead – and Oregon transfer Casey Benson as the Lopes' starting senior point guard.
"A lot of these international guys are really about the team and about winning," Majerle said of a team that already has returning imports from Finland (Fiifi Aidoo), Senegal (Ibrahima Sankare) and Australia (Gerard Martin and Matt Jackson). "Fundamentally, Alessandro and Roberts are pretty good. They are really high IQ guys and are very skilled, which is obviously what I like. As far as picking up things, they've been really good so that's a pleasant surprise."
Benson's transition was made smooth by his familiarity with the program. His brother, T.J., is a GCU assistant coach, and he has spent past summers playing pickup ball with Lopes players at GCU.
"He's fit in seamlessly with our guys because he's so smart, played at a high level and knows what I like to do already," Majerle said.
Lopes practices resumed Wednesday in Castelldefels, a nearby hillside town in the shadow of a 16th-century castle. The Lopes will play the first of three games on Thursday night, not long after Arizona State's team returned from a Spanish tour and just as Arizona's team concludes its Spanish visit.
"There'll definitely be a lot of sightseeing, but obviously it's basketball," Lopes senior Keonta Vernon said. "It's business at the end of the day. Like Coach Majerle said, when we scrimmage, we don't want to lose to anybody, regardless of whether nobody will know about it or it's the biggest game of the year."
The trip helps form an early team bond. A senior like Vernon is making his first trip out of the U.S. just the same as a freshman like Milstead.
"It's a great experience," Milstead said. "We can get some games and practices and get ahead as a team. I just want to see the culture. It builds team chemistry. All we've got is each other on the buses and plane rides. We spend a lot of quality time around each other. That's going to help us in the game situations with our chemistry."
The GCU staff learned from a team trip to Greece four years ago to not overemphasize the games or quality of competition. Majerle also scaled back on the team schedule to balance educational opportunities and bonding free time for the players.
"The games are nice, but it's more about the camaraderie of guys getting to know each other and practices like today," Majerle said. "Playing against other teams will be fun, and our guys will have a sense of going against other groups instead of just practicing against each other."
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
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