CSU's Montgomery, UIC's Tyler Headed on European Tours
INDIANAPOLIS -- Cleveland State senior Jeremy Montgomery and UIC senior Dorian Tyler are headed to Europe for seven-day basketball tours with Global Sports Academy. Fans can follow the progress of the duo on Facebook (Global Sports Academy) and on Twitter (@GlobalSports_US).
"I am extremely happy for Jeremy and this opportunity that awaits him," CSU head coach Gary Waters said in a release. "Jeremy is entering the most important season of his career and going on this trip is the first step to what I feel will be an outstanding senior season for him."
Montgomery’s team, which consists of 10 players, will play five games on the seven-day trip, while also taking in cultural experiences in Amsterdam, Bruges, Brussels and London.
The team will arrive in Brussels, Belgium on Aug. 10 and begin the competition schedule on Aug. 11 against BC Geel before it takes on Holland's U23 National Team (Aug. 12), Leiden 2 (Aug. 13) and Basics Melsele (Aug. 14). The fifth and final game will be played on Aug. 16 against an opponent yet to be determined.
Montgomery started all 36 games for the Vikings last season, helping the squad to a share of the Horizon League regular-season title and the second round of the NIT.
He ranked third on the team in scoring (11.6), adding 2.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game in 31.1 minutes per contest.
Montgomery shot .327 (56-171) from three-point and will enter his senior season ranked fifth in school history with 151 three pointers. He is just 22 shy of taking over second place.
Montgomery will be joined on the GSA squad by Bill Luther (Pitt-Johnstown), Jordan Stasyszyn (Shippensburg), Will O'Neal (Indianapolis), Ashton Smith (Indiana, PA), Darius Theus (VCU), Troy Daniels (VCU), Travis Carroll (Purdue), Justin Manns (Kent State) and Josh Proctor (West Virginia Tech).
The team will be coached by Bill Brown of California University (Pa.).
Tyler will represent the UIC men’s basketball team on a GSA Tour of Belgium, Germany and London from Aug. 9-17. Having never traveled outside the United State, Tyler is excited about the opportunity to experience the culture and to compete against a different playing style.
“Coach Moore came to me near the end of the season with the opportunity,” said Tyler in a release. “I finished the season strong last year, and since I’m expecting to have even a bigger role this season, we agreed that this would be a good on-the-court experience for me.
“But besides the basketball, I’m excited about the opportunity to visit four European cities in nine days – not a lot of people can say that they have had that experience. It’s going to be great being exposed to the way they play over there, too. I’m sure those teams are going to be very fundamentally sound, so we’re going to have to play well as a team.”
The team will fly into Brussels, Belgium on Wednesday, August 10. On Thursday, August 11, Tyler and his teammates will visit the Concentration Camp “Breendonk,” a national memorial recognizing the suffering and cruelty that had been inflicted on the prisoners during World War II. Global Sports will also play its first game of the tour against BC Geel.
On Friday, August 12, the team will travel to Amsterdam, and play a game against Holland’s National Under-23 team in Leiden. The following day, the team will sight-see in Amsterdam, including visiting the Anne Frank House and Royal Palace. Global Sports’ third game of the tour, against Leiden 2, will also be played on August 13.
On Sunday, August 14, the team will travel back to the Brussels area, and stay in a hotel in Mechelen. Global Sports will then take on Basics Melsele in the fourth game of the tour. The next day, the team will take a day trip to London, followed by a tour of Bruges on Tuesday, August 16. Global Sports will also play its fifth and final game of the tour on that day, before returning to the United States on August 17.
Other members of the Global Sports Academy team will include: Gerard Coleman (Providence), Kadeem Batts (Providence), Nick Pascale (Colgate), Mike Venezia (Colgate), Kelvin Gaines (Cincinnati), Jamail Jones (Marquette), Michael Bradley (UConn), Caleb Patterson (Missouri State) and Justin Drummond from Loyola (Md.).
Releases courtesy of CSUVikings.com and UICFlames.com
