UCLA Men's Basketball: Bruins Made The Most of Their Time in Valencia
On an annual basis, various college basketball programs take summer trips overseas for a number of reasons.
Of course, the head coaches of these programs want their teams to gel on and off the court. Building this sort of chemistry can only aid in what will be the grind of a long, difficult upcoming regular season schedule.
With that said, a major benefit in traveling overseas is to expose their players to new and exciting cultures.
In the case of the UCLA Bruins, Mick Cronin's team spent the last 10 days in Spain -- traveling to multiple cities within the beautiful country.
While the Bruins did compete in three games, the program made it a point of emphasis for the traveling party to really take in the sights while overseas. This included soaking up some rather enjoyable cultural activities.
Who wouldn't want to swim in the Gulf of Valencia? Or check out the famed Sagrada Familia in Barcelona? As the pictures and video above suggest, the team had a fantastic time.
For some of these players, this is the first time they've left the United States. With the game of basketball becoming such an international entity, the crossover between American and foreign cultures is inevitable.
Not only that, but UCLA in particular has quite the international flavor. On the current roster, the Bruins have two players from Nigeria (Kenneth Nwuba, Adem Bona), one from Slovenia (Jan Vide), a player from Spain (Aday Mara), one from Serbia (Lazar Stefanovic), another from Turkey (Berke Buyuktuncel), and a player from France (Ilane Fibleuil).
By all accounts, the trip overseas was a success. UCLA reportedly went 2-1 -- dropping its last game to a professional squad. Bear in mind, the Bruins were without its projected three-best big men for the entirety of the trip (Buyuktuncel, Bona, Mara). In the final game, Vide also didn't participate with a sore ankle.
