BOULDER – The University of Colorado men's basketball team has scheduled a trip to Australia from July 23 to August 5.
Allowed every four years by the NCAA, the Buffaloes will play four exhibition games during their time overseas. Game dates, times, and opponents will be released at a later date.
In addition, Colorado is allowed 10 practice sessions leading up to the trip. Those practices will begin later this month and will be spread out over the next six weeks ahead of the foreign tour.
The tour will take place at an ideal time for Colorado, which currently has seven newcomers on its roster, including five freshmen in its incoming recruiting class ranked in the nation's Top 40 by both Rivals and 247Sports.com.
"This trip comes at a perfect time for where our program is and where our program is going with the new young talent we have in it," Colorado head coach Tad Boyle said. "The basketball benefit really comes in the 10 practices beforehand. The four games that we'll be playing in Australia are definitely going to help us. We're going to play against very good competition. We're not going to dummy down our schedule. We're going to find out where we need to get better."
Colorado is scheduled to visit Melbourne, Sydney, Cairns and Gold Coast (near Brisbane) along Australia's East Coast.
Along with competing in exhibition games, the Buffaloes will have the chance to explore some of Australia's finest attractions, including tours of the Great Barrier Reef and the Sydney Opera House. Colorado is also scheduled to attend an Australian Football League game in Melbourne and the Australia Zoo near Brisbane.
"These trips are more than just about basketball," Boyle said. "The real benefit comes in two areas. One is the bonding that our players will have through travel, long plane rides, hotel rooms, and buses, spending time together in a different country, experiencing a different culture, and different food. Secondly, it's a life experience that many of these guys may or may not ever have again.
"To me, travel is a big part of education. One thing people don't realize is that college basketball players, because our sport spans two semesters, never have the opportunity to study abroad. My daughter was at CU, and she studied abroad during COVID in Florence. It wasn't a perfect experience, but it was a great experience for her. These guys don't get a chance to do that, so these foreign trips that you can do once every four years, to me, it's an important part of their education. And I know in college basketball, nobody, and I mean, nobody talks about education anymore, but I think it's still an important part of it."
