BREAKING NEWS: Tom Izzo & Michigan State Basketball Team Headed to Italy In August to Play

Tom Izzo and His Michigan State Basketball Team Headed to Italy This Summer to Play a Basketball Tour This has been known for sometime, but announced

Tom Izzo and His Michigan State Basketball Team Headed to Italy This Summer to Play a Basketball Tour This has been known for sometime, but announced officially today. Here is the entire MSU press release sent out via Matt Larson the men's basketball SID.

Michigan State Men’s Basketball Plans August Trip To Italy

Spartans will play four games against international competition.

The Michigan State men’s basketball team will take a foreign trip to Italy in late summer (Aug. 21 – Sept. 1), including four games against high-caliber international teams as well as amazing cultural and global experiences with an academic component.

MSU’s trip is scheduled to include stops in Rome, Florence, Maranello, Verona, Trieste, and Venice. Tour highlights include the Roman Forum, Roman Colosseum, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Sistine Chapel, Ponte Vecchio, the Duomo, St. Mark’s Square, and the Grand Canal. In addition, MSU will visit the U.S. Army Base in Vicenza. The trip will also include meetings and interaction with international business leaders. The Spartans will play one game in Florence on Aug. 25, and then take part in a three-game tournament in Trieste Aug. 28-30 against senior men’s national teams from Italy, Russia, and Georgia. The international teams will use the tournament as a final tune-up for Eurobasket 2015, where they will attempt to earn a spot in the 2016 Summer Olympics.

In planning the trip, MSU worked in collaboration with Anthony Travel, the leading sports travel management company in the country, servicing teams and universities for 25 years.

“This trip will provide an excellent early measuring stick for our team, in addition to being a great bonding experience for a new group of guys,” said MSU coach Tom Izzo. “It was widely documented that one of the reasons we had such great success in the postseason was the unique chemistry of our team. While many of those same players are returning, we also will have several new players joining the mix, and others playing new and expanded roles. This trip can serve as a foundation, both on and off the court, for what we hope can be a special season in 2015-16.

“On the court, we’ll be facing terrific opponents – teams with Olympic aspirations. Our motto has always been ‘Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime’ – and we’re just taking that to the next level.”

“It was important for me for this opportunity to be more than just a foreign tour, but one that would allow our student-athletes to have a study-abroad type experience with cultural and educational opportunities,” said MSU athletics director Mark Hollis. “With an MSU faculty member guiding our student-athletes’ experience, they will have the opportunity to engage with leaders from the business world, academic institutions and the military. This experience will broaden their perspective of a global economy along with strategies that are implemented from broad-based initiatives to niche marketing.”

The 2015-16 Spartans return 10 letterwinners from a squad that advanced to the 2015 Final Four, posting a 27-12 record. Denzel Valentine earned third-team All-Big Ten honors as a junior in 2014-15, and is the team’s leading returning scorer at 14.5 points per game. Eight returners started at least one game last season. Several newcomers are also expected to make a large contribution in 2015-16. Eron Harris sat out the 2014-15 season after transferring into Michigan State following a 2013-14 campaign in which he averaged 17.2 points as a sophomore at West Virginia. In addition, MSU’s incoming recruiting class is ranked among the best in the nation.

For more information on Anthony Travel, visit www.anthonytravel.com/international.