Kent State rising senior Justin Manns (Winston-Salem, N.C.) is getting set to take a seven-day, five-game tour through Europe Aug 10-16 with a Global Sports Select All Star.  Justin will be sharing with you his experiences by providing a running journal throughout the trip. 

Check back www.kentstatesports.com for more updates as Justin visits areas such as Brussels, Belgium, Amsterdam and London.

Journal Entry #2

Just finished our last practice and Pittsburgh.  Its been an exciting couple of days getting to know the other guys on the team and everyone adjusting to the different styles of play.  We have a few different guys that can score much like our team at Kent State.  With only having a few days of practice together we mostly worked on offense and didn't get the chance to roll out any defensive schemes.  I'm not all that worried about it though because if someone happens to get beat off the dribble, I'll be there to take care of the rest! #shotblocker.  Haha, just kidding, but seriously we're all looking forward to getting overseas and experiencing new cultures on and off the court.  What I'm not all that amped up for is the long flight across the Atlantic, but I got my hands on the new Jay-Z and Kanye West Watch the Throne album so I can see if its worthy of all the hype on our way across.  I'll let everyone know when I check in from Europe later in the week.  Thanks for following along.  

Journal Entry #1

Getting ready to head off to Pittsburgh tomorrow for a few days of training with the team before we leave for Europe next week.  They just finished resurfacing the floor of the M.A.C. Center (I love that new shine!) so I'll be excited to get back out there on the court and get back to playing and working out with some real competition.  The last few weeks its been all class work and individual work outs.  I've been putting in my time in the weight room and feel strong as ever.  I finally got all my stuff together and just have to finish packing a few things, but other than that I'm all set and ready to start this journey.

Fans can also follow the team's progress on Twitter at (GlobalSports_US) and Facebook (Global Sports Academy).

Kent State begins the 2011-12 season with a free exhibition game against Rochester (Mich.) on Monday, November 7.  For season ticket information call the ticket office at 330-672-2244.