Indiana Basketball To Play Exhibition Games In Puerto Rico In August

Indiana men’s basketball coach Darian DeVries mentioned shortly after he was hired that he wanted to take Indiana on a trip outside of the United States and he has been true to his word.

Indiana Varsity Club members were sent an email about Indiana’s planned trip. The Hoosiers are going to Puerto Rico from Aug. 5-12 and will play three exhibition games. Those games will take place on Aug. 6, Aug. 9 and Aug. 11 against BC Mega and a Puerto Rico All-Star team.

Though Puerto Rico is a U.S. commonwealth, the NCAA considers off-season games there to be considered “foreign” based on the rules the NCAA uses to govern these kinds of trips, which a school can make only once every four years. Rules governing Puerto Rico trips are spelled out in NCAA Bylaw 17.32.1.1 in the Division I handbook under “Foreign Tours”.

“A tour to a U.S. commonwealth (e.g., Puerto Rico) or a U.S. territory (e.g., Virgin Islands) may be considered a foreign tour.”

More information will be released on the trip to the general public by the athletic department next week.

Indiana last went on a foreign tour in 2021 when it traveled to the Bahamas.

DeVries told the Indianapolis Star in March that he wanted to on a foreign tour. He did the same in his lone season at West Virginia.

“We’ve got a new staff, we’ve got a new team. Let’s go take a trip together, so we can get to know each other a little bit, get an opportunity to play some games. Great timing for us. We’ve just got to figure out if we can make it work,” DeVries said.