The Arizona Wildcats appear possible to take an exhibition swing through Israel this August, their first foreign tour since 2017.
Arizona is tentatively planning to go at least to Israel as of now, after a report on Twitter on Thursday said that UA and Kansas State would be playing in Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
College teams are eligible to take foreign tours every four years, meaning UA has been able to since Tommy Lloyd was hired in 2021, but Lloyd has expressed reservations about taking a foreign tour because his many international players have national-team commitments over the summer.
Last summer, UA guards Kerr Kriisa (Estonia) and Pelle Larsson (Sweden) spent large chunks of the summer playing for their national teams, while center Oumar Ballo also trained with the Mali national team that ultimately did not play FIBA World Cup qualifying games out of protest. But the Wildcats do not have any national-team commitments during that time this summer.
Arizona last took a foreign trip to Spain in August 2017, just over a month before the FBI announced its investigation into college basketball. The Wildcats played just two games — beating teams in Valencia and Mataro — before canceling a third game after a terrorist attack struck a crowded area just five blocks from where the Wildcats were staying in Barcelona.
The August timing this year will allow the Wildcats to firm up their 2023-24 roster, which still has five openings as of now. Arizona has eight players expected on its roster for next season, unless Azuolas Tubelis comes back from the NBA Draft pool, and typically aims to get all of its players on campus by July for offseason workouts.
A foreign exhibition tour would also allow UA to hold 10 full practices in July and August before leaving.
Larsson has company
Among the familiar faces UA’s Pelle Larsson is scheduled to see at the G League Elite Camp later this month in Chicago: Tyger Campbell of UCLA, Tristan da Silva of Colorado, Drew Peterson of USC and Tosan Evbuomwan of Princeton.
The NBA released the full list of 45 G League Elite Camp invitees on Friday. The camp, essentially a combine for G League and fringe NBA Draft prospects, will be held May 13-14 at Chicago’s Wintrust Arena, before the NBA Combine later that week.
Tubelis is expected to be invited to the NBA Combine, but an official list of players has not been released yet.
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