Owls will travel the write way
Temple's basketball players plan to keep journals during the team's 10-day trip to Europe.
THE TEMPLE men's basketball team will be doing something a little different this summer. While the Owls will still be shooting, rebounding and scrimmaging, they also will be writing.
The Owls will be taking a transcontinental flight to Europe on Aug. 14 for a 10-day training trip. Owls coach Fran Dunphy will have them focused on more than just basketball while they are overseas.
"All of our guys are going to keep a journal and work hard at making the best memories that they can from this trip," Dunphy said.
Dunphy believes that the trip provides an aspect of life that many college athletes never get to experience during their playing days.
"It is a wonderful opportunity," he said. "It is very beneficial from a basketball standpoint in terms of the X's and the O's. But it is equally important in finding out a lot about each other and learning a new culture, learning how to get along in a language that we are maybe not familiar with, in French and Italian. There are a lot of benefits to it. The cultural piece will be fantastic."
The team will spend time in both Italy and France, and will play two games in each country. Dunphy says the Owls will practice a few days while they are over there, in addition to partaking in cultural and educational activities.
Dunphy said the team will benefit off the court through cultural and educational aspects, and on it because of the training and competition.
"We will do a lot of our training prior to going," Dunphy said. "We are allowed 10 full practices during the course of the latter part of July and early August that will help us immeasurably. We will play four games over there and hopefully really find out more about our team and the distance we have to go to be able to play in a very challenging year for us."
The 10 full practices will help the Owls decipher where they are headed after the losses of leading scorer Khalif Wyatt, and role player Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson. The NCAA has strict rules about summer practices, and the additional time that the coaching staff gets to spend with the players over the summer should benefit Temple. The NCAA states that a team can only take a foreign trip once every 4 years.
Another new NCAA guideline will also stand to help Temple adjust for the 2013-14 season.
"Most recently, the rule has been changed where you can take your freshman if they do a good job in the summer sessions that they are presently in," Dunphy said. "That's a great benefit. In years past, you weren't able to take your incoming freshman and now you are. They make it a good situation for you."
Dunphy and crew will be allowed to take along the three freshmen - Josh Brown, Mark Williams and Kyle Green.
The team will be in Europe from Aug. 14-23, returning just in time for the start of classes. The Owls fly into Paris and fly home out of Rome. Stops in Nice, France, and Florence, Italy, are also on the slate. The Owls are thankful for the chance to see some of the world.
"We value the opportunity, and thank Temple University and its supporters for allowing us the chance to go overseas," Dunphy said.
Morgan can't play
According to a report in the Daily Hampshire Gazette, the NCAA has turned down a request from former UMass guard Jesse Morgan to play at Temple.
Morgan, an Olney High graduate, enrolled at Temple this summer hoping to use his final season of eligibility for the Owls.
The 6-5 guard averaged 13.4 points in 14 games last year for UMass before his season ended because of an ACL injury. He later was dismissed from UMass for undisclosed campus rules violations.