The Virginia Tech men’s basketball team experienced the Steger Center for International Scholarship for just one afternoon during a nine-day tour of Switzerland and Italy this summer, but head coach Mike Young said that short time will have a lifelong impact.
“I think 13 of our 15 players had never been outside the continental United States. That’s a transformational experience,” he said. “Invariably, when those guys get together — five years from now, 10 years from now, throughout life for homecomings, and when they come back to campus with former teammates — rather quickly in that conversation, something will be said about going to Switzerland, going to Milan, Italy. What a great, great experience that was. They’ll never forget that.”
NCAA regulations allow Division I teams to take a foreign tour only once every four years. In August, the Hokies embarked on their journey through the heart of Europe. Because of the tour, the NCAA granted the team an additional 10 practices leading up to the departure. The coaches used this extra training, and the trip itself, to further develop team chemistry and accelerate the implementation of offensive and defensive schemes at a much earlier point in the year.
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