The Tennessee basketball team is traveling to Italy July 31 through Aug. 9 for a three-game exhibition tour filled with cultural immersion and exciting sight-seeing experiences.
The Volunteers have scheduled games against the Lithuanian U21 National Team in Florence on back-to-back days Aug. 4-5. Tennessee also will face Italian club team A.S. Stella Azzura in Rome on Aug. 7.
Video of all three games will be streamed live on the subscription video service FloSports and can be accessed through a one-month subscription.
After spending the first days of the trip in the Lake Como region, the traveling party will bus to Florence for a multi-day stop before boarding a train to Rome on Aug. 6.
In addition to the games, other activities throughout the trip include a boat tour of Lake Como, a tour of the Florence Cathedral (Duomo) and stops at the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Colosseum and Vatican City.
Fans interested in supporting this once-in-a-lifetime educational and athletic experience for the Tennessee basketball program are encouraged to contact the Tennessee Fund at [email protected].
Tennessee owns an all-time international exhibition record of 19-7.
The Vols have previously made similar international trips to Spain in 1976 (2-1), France/Italy in 1997 (5-3), the Dominican Republic in the fall of 2003 (1-1), Czech Republic/Slovakia/Austria in 2007 (4-1), Italy in 2012 (4-0) and Spain/France in 2017 (3-0).
The program’s most recent international excursion, in the summer of 2017, served as a valuable team-building experience, as those Vols went on to win the 2018 SEC championship.
During this summer’s trip, head coach Rick Barnes and his staff will deploy a new-look UT roster led by two-time All-SEC guard Santiago Vescovi and veteran wing Josiah-Jordan James. Returning point guard Zakai Zeigler will be inactive as he continues to rehab from injury, but scholarship returners expected to be available alongside Vescovi and James are juniors Jonas Aidoo and Jahmai Mashack, sophomore Tobe Awaka and redshirt freshmen Freddie Dilione V and D.J. Jefferson.
The Vols added three newcomers with Division I experience via the NCAA Transfer Portal in guards Jordan Gainey (USC Upstate) and Dalton Knecht (Northern Colorado) and forward Chris Ledlum (Harvard).
Tennessee also welcomes three freshmen newcomers in guard Cameron Carr and forwards J.P. Estrella and Cade Phillips.
Italy Exhibition Schedule
Friday, Aug. 4 vs. Lithuania U21 National Team – 7 p.m. local / 1 p.m. ET
Saturday, Aug. 5 vs. Lithuania U21 National Team – 7 p.m. local / 1 p.m. ET
Monday, Aug. 7 vs. A.S. Stella Azzurra – 7:30 p.m. local / 1:30 p.m. ET
-UT Athletics
