Rice baseball team planning trip to Cuba
Rice University’s baseball team is in the planning stages of a proposed trip to Cuba, a source with knowledge of the situation told the Houston Chronicle.
Details are still being worked out, but the source said the Owls — annually one of the top collegiate baseball programs in the nation — would make the historic visit in late November and most likely play a series of exhibitions against teams from the Cuban Baseball Federation.
The Owls will be among the first collegiate teams to travel to Cuba since the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba, announced by President Barack Obama earlier this year.
Rice officials declined comment when reached Thursday.
This is believed to be the first time Rice baseball has made a preseason trip outside the U.S., which the NCAA allows teams to do every four years.
The visit also will include educational and cultural experiences, the source said.
There have been several other collegiate teams visit Cuba in the postrevolutionary era, most recently in 2015 with Princeton’s track and field, Coastal Carolina’s men’s basketball team and baseball teams from Penn State and Richmond.
Division I baseball teams to visit Cuba include Washington (2000), Tennessee (2002), Southern California (2004), Alabama (2008), Penn State and Richmond.
The Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball played an exhibition against the Cuban national team in March.
Rice won the national championship in 2003. The Owls have either won or shared 20 consecutive conference regular-season or tournament titles. At 25-13, the Owls are currently in second place in Conference USA and in position for a 22nd straight NCAA Tournament appearance.