Ball State University Athletics
Follow Men?s Basketball in the Bahamas
August 02, 2015 | Men's Basketball
Summer of Thunder Schedule | Follow @BallStateMBB
MUNCIE, Ind. -- The Ball State men's basketball team departs Monday for its trip to the Bahamas. The Cardinals will spend the week there, playing, practicing and bonding in preparation for the 2015-16 season.
BallStateSports.com has all the coverage of the trip. Players will maintain a daily blog, while Joel Godett will be along to provide video updates throughout the week. You can also follow the Cardinals on Twitter @BallStateMBB.
Ball State has had 10 practices in the month leading up to the trip. The team will put that work to the test with a pair of exhibition games against local teams in the Bahamas. The action will be governed by FIBA rules, which feature four 10-minute quarters and a 24-second shot clock.
The opponents have changed since the trip was first announced. The Cardinals will play Wednesday at 7 p.m. against the CTG Knights and Friday at 9 p.m. against the Providence Storm at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium in the capital city of Nassau.
The games are part of the Summer of Thunder exhibition series sponsored by the Bahamas Basketball Federation and the Bahamas Telecommunications Company. Seventeen NCAA Division I teams -- including Georgia Tech, Saint Louis and West Virginia -- will be there to play at some point over the next four weeks. Kentucky and North Carolina both competed in the event last year.
Ball State will take a roster to the Bahamas that features 10 returning players, including the team's top scorers both on the perimeter -- Sean Sellers (12.0 ppg) and Jeremie Tyler (12.0 ppg) -- and in the post -- Franko House (10.3 ppg) and Bo Calhoun (9.6 ppg).
Former transfer Ryan Weber will see his first action after sitting out last season, while the Cardinals will also get their first look at transfers Naiel Smith and Nate Wells. Freshman Trey Moses will suit up, while his fellow freshman Tahjai Teague will have to sit out because of injury.
The NCAA allows teams to take a foreign trip once every four years. Ball State's last trip was to Vancouver, Canada in the summer of 2011.
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State men's basketball, follow @BallStateSports and @BallStateMBB on Twitter.
