it seems Tom Izzo and Michigan State basketball are heading back overseas later this summer.
Justin Thind of 247Sports reported Friday that the Spartans are taking a trip to Spain, with the departure date set for August 13. The trip is to include three preseason exhibition games and will include stops in Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia.
Michigan State basketball has not taken a trip overseas since 2015 when Izzo and the Spartans went to Italy, a trip that included four exhibition games. The trip followed Michigan State's Final Four season when it fell to the No. 1-seeded Duke in the semifinal game as a No. 7 seed.
On that trip to Italy, the Spartans defeated Basket Florentina 98-54. They then lost three streaight games to the Russian Senior National Team, the Italian National Team, and the National Team of Georgia.
"The Italian team had NBA pros and the Russians had pros over there making a lot of money, so we definitely gained confidence playing those guys and competing with the world's best," said former Spartan forward Denzel Valentine following that 2015 trip. "We're definitely going take that and run with it this year, those freshmen especially, coming right out of high school and playing that competition is big time."
Michigan State would eventually fall to Middle Tennessee State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament that season.
To put into perspective how long it has been since that 2015 trip to Italy, former Spartans who have long been out of the program now, Matt McQuaid, Deyonta Davis, and Kyle Ahrens were all freshmen, Matt Costello was in his final season with the program, Valentine is overseas after six active seasons in the NBA, and Steven Izzo, who just completed his career at Michigan State, was still in high school. Tom Izzo has been to one more Final Four since.
This upcoming trip could be vital for a program that will be in a rather "rebuilding" stage heading into next season. With new faces joining the program and returning players taking on bigger roles, it could go a long way as far as chemistry development goes.
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