Arizonaβs exhibition basketball trip came to a scary and sudden halt Thursday, when a terrorist attack struck an area just four blocks from the Wildcatsβ hotel in Barcelona, Spain.
The UA confirmed that everyone on its tour was safe about three hours after reports first surfaced that a van made a deadly drive through the popular Las Ramblas area. The team canceled a final exhibition game planned for Friday evening in Mataro, about 25 miles northeast of Barcelona.
βThe entire Arizona Basketball travel party on the Spain trip has been accounted for and is safe following the situation in Barcelona today,β a UA statement said.
βOur thoughts are with those affected by todayβs events.
βWe have decided to cancel our third and final exhibition of the tour and are currently working on travel plans to return home.β
However, UAβs travel options were limited after the terrorist attack. The team is expected to remain with its scheduled return home Saturday.
Erik Evans, VP of Tours for the Basketball Travelers, which organized UAβs trip, said the Wildcats βcould actually be worse off instead of sticking to their planβ if they tried to leave early.
βAs far as now, I think theyβre all grateful and happy to be back at the hotel,β Evans said. βTheyβre just going to remain calm and leave on the 19th.β
The Wildcats were still trying to account for everyone involved two hours after the attack, assistant coach Book Richardson said via text message. The mother of UA freshman Brandon Randolph tweeted to the Star shortly thereafter that the team was fine.
βTheyβre all safe and accounted for,β she said. βThank God!β
The Wildcats visited FC Barcelonaβs facilities Thursday morning. Team spokesman Matt Ensor declined to say where they were during the attack. Ensor said the group has been told not to offer specifics about its plans going forward.
Basketball Travelers is also organizing the trips by Clemson and Oregon State. Both teams were staying at hotels in the Las Ramblas area, closer than the UA to the site of the van attacks. Representatives for both teams confirmed via Twitter they had nobody harmed, as did Tulane.
βThanks for all the calls and texts,β Clemson coach Brad Brownell tweeted. βEveryone on our trip is safe and our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.β
The Oregonian reported that Oregon State was having a pregame meal at the time of the van attacks. The Beavers were scheduled to face Mataro Parc Boet, the same team UA was scheduled to play Friday.
βPlease keep all those impacted by todayβs tragedy in Barcelona in your thoughts and prayers!β Beavers coach Wayne Tinkle tweeted. βNo words to describe the sadness.β
Arizona State also took an exhibition trip to Barcelona this month but has already returned home.
Clemson is planning to return home Friday as scheduled and Oregon State is evaluating what it will do next, said Evans of the Basketball Travelers.
The Beavers were scheduled to leave Barcelona for Valencia on Friday, then play additional games in Granada and Malaga before returning home on Aug. 25.
The UAβs brief exhibition trip included some minor health scares. Sophomore forward Rawle Alkins missed the Wildcatsβ second exhibition game Wednesday against the Mataro All-Stars with a strained left shoulder, while freshman forward Emmanuel Akot was held out of the second half of the same game for precautionary reasons after suffering a strained knee.
Walk-on guard Kory Jones suffered an apparent leg or knee injury and had to be carried off the court in the final minutes of the Mataro game. The UA said Jones was still being evaluated Thursday.
