Justin's European Journey: Journal Entry #4
8/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Kent State rising senior Justin Manns (Winston-Salem, N.C.) has completed four days of his seven-day, five-game tour in Europe for a Global Sports Select All Star team that runs Aug 10-16. Justin continues to share with you his experiences by providing a running journal throughout the trip.
Continue to check back www.kentstatesports.com for more updates as Justin visits areas such as Brussels, Belgium, Amsterdam and London.
Journal Entry #4 (August 13)
This trip is going fast. We've already played three games and seen quite a bit. We picked up a win in our first game on Thursday against BC Geel. We lost a hard fought battle to the Dutch U23 team on Friday, 91-85, but came back with a 91-76 W against a team from Leiden on Saturday night. The competition has been as good if not better than I expected when you consider these guys are either professionals or the top amateur players in their country. My teammates and I are holding our own. We have built a really good chemistry on and off the court. I just met these guys last week and it seems like we've already been kicking it together for years. Looking forward to experiencing some free time tonight in Amsterdam. I heard it its like another world down there and its just something everyone needs to experience once in their lifetime. Caught a glimpse of a few European commercials on TV and boy are they a something else. A few about had me fall out the bed laughing. Driving around town on the way to the games we haven't seen all that many cars, but you do see a lot of people on bikes. In between some sightseeing and the game the other day a few of us strolled over to the Louie Vutton and Gucci stores. They had some nice looking stuff I was going to pick up, but I had to hold back and watch my Euros. Some of these hotels charge us as much as 10 US dollars for the internet and I want to make sure I can get online to give everyone following along back home some love. Thanks for reading. Also heard from back in Kent that Coach Senderoff is now on Twitter! Be sure to follow him @CoachSendy.
Journal Entry #3 (August 11)
We finally arrive in Belgium yesterday. I've been trying to adjust to the time change and shake off some of the jet lag, but my body is killing me right now. It's all good though, cause after checking into the hotel and running through practice we got a chance to enjoy the downtown strip in Mechelen where we are staying at. Everything out here is a lot different and I've already been learning a lot about the culture. We are getting ready to head out to Brussels for some sightseeing all day before playing our first game tonight. After spending the past five days with these guys gettting ready I'm itiching to get out the on court and do some damage to the rim like this here! That's it for now I appreciate everyone that's been checking in.
Journal Entry #2 (August 8)
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 (August 5)
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.
