Colonials heading for Ireland
Trip allows RMU more practice time
For years, Robert Morris men’s basketball coach Andy Toole has bounced around the idea of taking his team on an offseason trip overseas — something that the program had never done.
But now, after more than a year of planning, an international trip finally will come to fruition. Robert Morris leaves Tuesday for Ireland for a nine-day trip, and it will include three games against international competition and plenty of sightseeing.
Toole said that after years of struggling to find the time and resources to organize an international trip, it finally began to gain traction after the conclusion of the 2016-17 season.
“We had some boosters come forward and say they would support us on this if it were something we wanted to do,” Toole said. “A number of people stepped up and helped us put this trip together, and here we are ready to leave.”
Athletic director Craig Coleman said that Toole spearheaded the planning effort, along with associated fundraisers.
“Something like this takes a good many, many months of planning because you’re not only scheduling basketball games, but you’re also, anytime you’re taking kids to another country you really want to make this a good, cultural, educational experience for them,” Coleman said.
The Colonials’ flight will leave at noon Tuesday for Newark, N.J. After a layover, they will leave Tuesday night for Dublin with a 7 a.m. arrival scheduled for Wednesday.
Robert Morris’ first game will take place Aug. 9 against Neptune Basketball Club in Cork and will be followed by a match against Moycullen Basketball Club Aug. 12 at St. Mary’s College in Galway, and an Aug. 16 game against the Dublin Lions Basketball Club.
In addition to the games, the team will visit the Cliffs of Moher, Blarney Castle and Trinity Castle.
“There’s a lot of excitement,” senior guard Matty McConnell said. “We’ve been playing against each other every day.
“We’re just excited to get out there and see what we can do against other people and really jell and become closer together on the court and have a preview of what the season’s going to be like.”
Even before the first flight leaves, Robert Morris has reaped benefits from the trip.
The NCAA allows teams to practice for 10 days before leaving. The Colonials took advantage by starting practice July 28, giving Toole a chance to give Robert Morris’ five newcomers some reps.
“We’ve been able to have some of our newer faces get an understanding of what practice will be like and install some offensive and defensive stuff, which is great,” Toole said.
“Give our returning guys more reps and more opportunity to play together, more opportunity to continue their development.
“For our team, so far it’s been really valuable, and we haven’t even gotten to Ireland yet.”
According to NCAA rules, programs can travel once every four years. Robert Morris hopes more international trips will develop, and Toole would like to plan an even more adventurous trip next time.
“The hope is, and one of the reasons we chose Ireland, is that we thought it could be maybe less of a culture shock,” Toole said.
“People are going to be speaking the same language, a lot of the food is Americanized, things of that nature. If this goes well, then we will get a little more daring in some of the places that we pick.
“It can be something that, again, adds to the experience of our student athletes, give us the opportunity to continue to grow as a basketball program and you’ll have opportunities to learn about a new place, see a new place and have some cultural experiences as well.
“All those things just make it something that we want to continue to do as we move forward.”