MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama men’s basketball program will head north to Canada in August to participate in a summer tour, head coach Ronnie Arrow announced Thursday.

South Alabama will play three games in Ontario Aug. 13-16 against two Canadian universities: the University of Windsor and Western University. The NCAA allows its member institutions to go on foreign exhibition tours every four years.

“Scheduling a tour will allow the new guys that are here in summer school to practice for 10 days, which gives the guys a chance to play together,” said Arrow.

The Jaguars will open against Windsor on Aug. 13, followed by a contest against Western the next day. After a day off, USA closes out its schedule Aug. 16 with a return date against Windsor.

Not only will the trip provide Arrow and the staff an early look at this year’s team under game conditions, it will also allow the team to have 10 on-campus practices before they depart, which gives the team a chance to gel two months before the real season begins.

“Anytime that you’re able to practice early with your team, it’s a huge advantage,” Arrow said. “The last time we did this, we went to Canada and I thought it really helped our team. Normally, when the team is in summer school you can’t work with them. Now we’ll be able to get 10 days of practice in and get the new guys up to speed with the returning guys. They can practice together and get some things done to get ready for the games.

“What you don’t want to do is burn the guys out because it’s a long season anyway. But knowing that we’ll have three games and 10 practices, we’ll be able to see how the new guys fit in with the old guys and how they fit in with what we’ll be running. Hopefully they’ll have a good time on the tour too.”

The ‘old guys’ Arrow refers to are the eight letterwinners returning from last season’s 17-12 squad. The team’s top four scorers, top two rebounders and top three shot blockers will be in uniform next year, including First Team All-Sun Belt performer Augustine Rubit, who paced the Jaguars with 15.2 points and 9.2 rebounds per contest.

Arrow last took a team on a foreign tour in 2008. That summer, USA used its trip to Quebec to break in six newcomers, including four guards. This season, the Jags will have five new players, with three of those being in the backcourt.

“In 2008 we had some new guards coming in and we were able to see how well they were going to be able to run our system and who the leaders were going to be,” Arrow remembered. “That year is a little bit like this year: We brought in some new guards then and we’re bringing in quite a few new guards now. We’ll be able to see how much they’re able to buy in to the running and the defensive part of our system, and how much we can get put it before the start of the regular season.”

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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