July 29, 1999

RALEIGH, N.C. - The NC State men's basketball team will depart Sun., Aug. 1 for a 13-day tour of Italy in which the Wolfpack will play exhibition contests against upper division Italian pro teams.

The Pack will travel to 11 different Italian cities, including Milan, Verona, Venice, Florence, Assisi and Rome before returning on Fri., Aug. 13. Among the Italian teams NC State is scheduled to play are Snaidero Udine, A Costa Imola Basket Termal Mitsubishi and Don Bosco Basket Livorno. The squad will also take in sights such as Juliet's balcony in Verona, beautiful Lake Como, the gondolas and canals in Venice, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Trevi Fountain, the Coliseum and a tour of the Vatican Museum.

"I'm looking forward to it," said senior captain Justin Gainey. "For some of us, it'll be the time-of-a-lifetime trip. It should be a real good experience."

NC State began practicing for the trip on July 19, installing parts of a system that will be used during the 1999-00 season. While the extra practice is a benefit, coach Herb Sendek sees the Italy trip as an even greater chance for his team to build chemistry.

"It'll be nice to experiment with some system changes," said Sendek. "It's great to be able to work with our guys during this summer time period. But perhaps most importantly, I'm looking forward to the possible dividends from being together.

"To me, getting the team together is everything. The four games are good. But being together, traveling and doing all this as a unit, to me, is the real value of the experience."

Under NCAA guidelines, collegiate teams are allowed to make a foreign trip once every four years. The Pack, which has not been overseas since a trip to Greece prior to the 1984-85 season, will take a group of 13 returning players (including five non-scholarship walk-ons) to Italy. NC State's incoming freshmen are not eligible to go on the trip.