OSU men to get valuable time together on Spain trip
Ohio State gets 10 extra practices for its men’s basketball trip to Spain, which no doubt will help a young roster grow closer. It’s a primary reason coach Chris Holtmann scheduled such a tour as the Buckeyes prepare for his second season.
While recruiting in July, the subject came up among Holtmann and other Division I men’s basketball coaches: How much do such trips actually win games? The consensus was not much.
But that doesn’t mean the trip won’t be beneficial for the Buckeyes.
“When you have a group that is relatively new, it’s better because they spend concentrated time together and we get to learn more about them,” Holtmann said in July. “We will be put in difficult game situations (and) see how our guys respond together. But time together is certainly up therein the importance to our team. How that ultimately translates to December or January, who knows? But I’d rather be doing it than not doing it.”
Ohio State will have an open practice at Chris Holtmann will take his team to Spain to help it get ready for his second season as Ohio State coach. 5 p.m. Tuesday in Value City Arena, its final session before flying out Wednesday around noon. In Spain, the Buckeyes will play games in Madrid,
Valencia and Barcelona before returning Aug. 11.
There also is plenty of culture in the works: The itinerary includes a paella dinner on the beach, a visit to a bullfighting museum, a tour of soccer club Real Madrid’s stadium and a visit to La Sagrada Familia, a church in Barcelona that has been under construction since 1882.
The last stop excites sophomore center Kaleb Wesson.
“I really want to see it in person, how crazy it is,” he said.
First, though, have been the extra practices the NCAA allows in conjunction with a foreign trip. Those have allowed the team’s four freshmen and two transfers early chances to get their Ohio State careers started under the eyes of coaches. The practices will not have the same intensity as what the Buckeyes will experience in the fall. Same goes for the games, two of which will come against assembled teams featuring local professionals.
“It’s going to be a pretty low-key, different than what’s going to happen in October, and that’s intentional,” Holtmann said. “I want our guys (enjoying) this trip and learning about each other and playing with each other. We’re going to play all different kind of lineups.”