Big Ten Foreign Tour Team Opens Play Friday

University of Illinois Sophomore Warren Carter joins one player from every Big Ten team (two from Penn State) on the Big Ten's annual foreign tour. The first game of the trip for the team will be on Friday against Frejus Basketball Club Frejus of France. Read more in this update on the Big Ten Foreign Touring Team from IlliniBoard.com.

Park Ridge, IL - The Big Ten Men's Basketball Foreign Tour Team departs for a five-game tour through France and Italy on Tuesday under the reins of a new head coach, as Penn State assistant Kurt Kanaskie will fill that role after PSU head coach Ed DeChellis underwent minor surgery over the weekend and is unable to travel. The 2004 Foreign Tour team, which includes 12 players from all 11 League schools, will be abroad through August 20 before returning home.

The squad will wrap up a three-day training session on the campus of Penn State University today and will depart on Tuesday, August 10, arriving in Nice, France, the next morning. After two days of rest, the squad will open competition with consecutive games against French club teams. The tour opener will take place on Friday, August 13, as the Big Ten squad will be challenged by the Frejus Basketball Club. The second game will feature a matchup against the Marseille-Fos Basketball Club on Saturday, August 14. The Big Ten contingent departs for Italy on August 15 and resumes competition against the Casale Monferrato Basketball Club on Monday, August 16. After another day off, the team wraps up the tour with back-to-back games against the Casalpusterlengo Basketball Club on Wednesday, August 18, and the Cremona Basketball Club on Thursday, August 19. The Big Ten Foreign Tour team will return to the United States on Friday, August 20.

The future of the Big Ten will be on display overseas as seven of the 12 players have completed two or fewer seasons of college basketball. The League's last Foreign Tour Team in 2002 produced seven eventual All-Big Ten selections and built a 4-1 record with games in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. The Conference office has sent teams overseas in 11 of the last 13 years, compiling an overall record of 46-29 and a mark of 10-1 during the last two trips in 2001 and 2002.

The complete 2004 Big Ten Men's Basketball Foreign Tour Team schedule and roster follows.

2004 BIG TEN MEN'S BASKETBALL FOREIGN TOUR SCHEDULE

Date	Opponent/Event Site
Aug. 10	Depart for France
Aug. 11	NO GAME
Aug. 12	NO GAME
Aug. 13	Frejus Basketball Club Frejus, France
Aug. 14	Marseille-Fos Basketball Club Marseille, France
Aug. 15	Depart for Italy
Aug. 16	Casale Monferrato Basketball Club Casale Monferrato, Italy
Aug. 17	NO GAME
Aug. 18	Casalpusterlengo Basketball Club Casalpusterlengo, Italy
Aug. 19	Cremona Basketball Club Cremona, Italy
Aug. 20	Depart for United States

2004 BIG TEN MEN'S BASKETBALL FOREIGN TOUR ROSTER
F Warren Carter - Illinois
G Adam Haluska - Iowa
C Amadou Ba - Michigan
F Delco Rowley - Michigan State
F Dan Coleman - Minnesota
F Davor Duvancic - Northwestern
C Matt Marinchick - Ohio State
C Kevin Fellows - Penn State
G Marlon Smith - Penn State
G Brandon McKnight - Purdue
G Clayton Hanson - Wisconsin

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Story courtesy the Big Ten and the University of Illinois.