Baylor Men's Basketball Headed to Italy for Foreign Tour

WACO, Texas – Baylor basketball is headed to Italy for a nine-day foreign tour that begins Thursday in Rome. The Bears will play four games during the trip, with stops in Rome, Vatican City, Florence, Venice, Trieste and Como.

Baylor’s roster will feature 11 active players during the trip. Sophomores Flo Thamba and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatcoua will not be on the trip due to visa issues that were unable to be resolved, while senior Freddie Gillespie and sophomore Matthew Mayer will be on the tour but will not play in the games while recovering from offseason surgeries. Junior forward Tristan Clark is expected to play in two of the team’s four games and will be held to limited minutes as he works his way back from a knee surgery that prematurely ended his 2018-19 sophomore season.

The Bears’ first game is Saturday, Aug. 17 against Stella Azzurra Academy in Rome. BU then will face Tuscan Select on Sunday, Aug. 18 in Florence. Baylor’s third game is against Jadan Trieste on Wednesday, Aug. 21 in Trieste, and the final matchup is against LCC International University on Thursday, Aug. 22 in Como.

In addition to Clark’s limited availability, 17th-year head coach Scott Drew expects to play seniors Devonte Bandoo and Obim Okeke, juniors Mario Kegler, Mark Vital and MaCio Teague, sophomores Adam Flagler, Jared Butler and Davion Mitchell and freshmen Jordan Turner and Jackson Moffatt.

Baylor’s non-conference schedule will be released later this month. The Bears open the 2019-20 season the afternoon of Tuesday, Nov. 5.