Troy basketball to close out summer with Foreign Tour

The Troy Trojans men’s basketball team will wrap up summer workouts with a foreign tour to Costa Rica.

The trip to Costa Rica is designed to enrich the Trojans culturally and athletically. The basketball team arrives in San Jose, Costa Rica, on July 30 for five days before spending two days in Los Sueños ahead of their return to Troy on Aug. 6.

Troy joins Colorado State, Pepperdine, Charlotte and Tulane on the Costa Rican tour but due to NCAA regulations, the teams will not be allowed to play each other during the summer.

“We are extremely excited about this amazing opportunity to travel and compete in Costa Rica,” Troy coach Scott Cross said. “Being in a foreign country together for 24 hours a day, eating every meal together, doing community service together and doing team bonding events together will all help our team chemistry and will help us be a better basketball team.”

Troy will be allowed to hold 10 full-length practices during the trip to Costa Rica. Additionally, Troy will compete against the El Salvador National Team twice along with a game against the Costa Rica All-Stars. The games with El Salvador will occur on July 31 and Aug. 1, while the Trojans face off with Costa Rica on Aug. 3.

“The NCAA allows teams to have 10 full practices leading up to the foreign tour, which is a huge benefit for our basketball team,” Cross said. “We will be much further along this year as we head into the season because of the extra practices and the games we will play in Costa Rica.”

Along with the practices and exhibition games, the Trojans will take part in various activities in an effort to emphasize team chemistry and bonding. Those activities will include hosting a kids basketball camp, zip line tours, whitewater rafting and an ATV outing in the forest and on the beach of Costa Rica.

“I am very thankful and appreciate of the support given from Chancellor (Jack) Hawkins, (Athletic Director) Brent Jones, our Trojan donors and the entire Troy administration for making this tour a reality,” Cross said. “Our guys have worked extremely hard and I cannot wait to compete and play in Costa Rica.”

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