UConnmen'sbasketball team embarks on European tour of camaraderie, competition: 'Go out there and dominate'

Aug. 1—Indeed, Hurley and the Huskies' weeklong stays in Las Vegas and Houston (and Albany) a few months ago yielded a national championship. On Wednesday, UConn embarks on a nine-day trip through Europe that Hurley hopes will plant the seeds of a national-title repeat.

The Huskies will take a direct flight to Nice on Wednesday, then bus to Monaco. They will play three games in the ensuing 10 days against a French team and a pair of Spanish select teams.

But it will be about far more than basketball. In Barcelona, there will be a paella cooking class and a tour of La Sagrada Familia, the largest, unfinished Catholic church in the world. There will be a catamaran tour in Monaco.

Ultimately, it's a bonding trip that is crucial for a team introducing six new players, including five freshmen.

"It'll be nice just to get with the boys, to have lunch, talk and really put that chemistry together with the group," said Hurley.

"As a team, (we want to) go out there and bond," added sophomore center Donovan Clingan. "Obviously, we're going to play basketball. But we're going to Europe, so you've got to enjoy it a little bit. Bring the team together, go win some games and put it all out on the floor, learn from those games, bring them to the practices and have a good season."

UConn will play a French team called Le Cannet Basket on Saturday, Aug. 5 in Le Cannet, France. On Aug. 7, the Huskies will face a Spanish select team, comprised by players put together solely for summer competition, at Pavellon Olimpica in Barcelona. The following day, they'll face another Spanish select team in the same arena. All three games are open to the public, free of charge.

The competition likely won't be world-beating. It's not like the Huskies will be going up against the likes of Victor Wembanyama. But that's not entirely the point.

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"I think we're going to come out a different team, more connected, more solid basketball-wise," sophomore forward Alex Karaban noted. "For most of us, it's our first time out of the country. So, really, getting team chemistry off the court, I think, will be the biggest key to the trip."

UConn was also allowed 10 extra practices in preparation for the trip. In typical Hurley fashion, that's been as important as anything.

"We squeeze every second that the NCAA allows us to use, and we wish we had more time," the coach said. "We love the work, we're all about the work. The work has put us in this position to be winners."

Of course, the Huskies have been on a seemingly never-ending victory tour since copping their fifth national title. Hurley, the homebody, and/or his team has made trips to locales as variant as Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium and Citi Field, Stafford Springs Speedway, the New York Stock Exchange and the White House.

"To think about where we are, relative to where we would be without the trip, it's been big for us to stop the celebrating and work hard," Hurley added. "We've worked really hard this summer. Obviously, there are things for us to do in terms of celebrating. But every time we're not celebrating, we're grinding and working super-hard. This trip got us back to hard-ass practices. We're in season mode, in a way."

This is the UConn men's team's first foreign tour since 2004, when it visited London during Thanksgiving week. Prior to that, the Huskies embarked on a 17-day journey through England and Israel in August, 1998.

UConn was slated for a trip to Italy a couple of years ago, but that got cancelled due to the pandemic. Programs are allowed one foreign trip every four years.

Many other college programs are making foreign trips this summer, including Big East rivals Providence (Spain), Marquette (Italy), Creighton and Xavier (Bahamas).

UConn will spend its first three days touring France and playing its first game. The Huskies will then fly to Barcelona and spend the next four days sightseeing and preparing for their games against the Spanish select squads.

"I don't know how many people will be at our games, I don't really know how this is going to play out," Hurley noted. "I just know, as the reigning NCAA champion, when we show up to play, there should be some level of quality to what we bring."

The team will have one final, open day to explore Barcelona before flying back home on Aug. 10.

UConn partnered with Complete Sports Management to plan the trip.

The traveling party will be about the same as it would be for an NCAA Tournament game, with a few additional staffers. That means the players, coaches and administrative staff (including trainers, academic advisors, etc.). There will also be a group of about a dozen donors on the trip.

"I just want to make the trip enjoyable for everybody," Hurley summed up. "I'm an intense personality, so I've got to find a way, when I get on that long flight, to dial it back so it's an enjoyable experience for everybody."

Clingan's goal is more in-line with how the Huskies spent their last lengthy trip together, in Houston in April.

"Personally, just go out there and play against someone other than my teammates," the 7-foot-2 Bristol native said. "Go out there and dominate."