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Yale Men's Basketball Heads to China
Courtesy of Yale Sports Publicity
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale men’s
basketball team is getting an early start to the 2011-12 season.
The Bulldogs are headed to China for nine days. The team leaves on
Monday, May 16 and will visit Chengdu and Shanghai. Yale will play
four games against Chinese universities. The opener is May 19
against the University of Electronic Science and Technology.
“It will be a great learning experience for our team, both
on and off the court,” said rising senior Greg
Mangano, who learned earlier this week he was selected to
try out for a U.S. national team. The tryouts are in late
July in Colorado Springs, Colo. “The trip will help prepare
us for next season, and we'll have the opportunity to grow as a
team. I'm thankful for the opportunity we've been
given.”
The Chinese government of Chengdu invited Yale to play against the
best Chinese Universities. Yale great John Lee ’58 set up an
endowment several years ago that allows the team to make a foreign
trip once every four years. The last two trips have taken the
Bulldogs to Spain and Italy.
“We see this as a once in a lifetime opportunity, and we
look forward to the competition and the culture of the
country,” said James Jones, The Joel E.
Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Men’s Basketball.
The NCAA allows five days of practice time for teams making
foreign trips during the offseason, and Yale started its
preparation on Wednesday.
“This trip will give us a jump start for next season, and
the FIBA rules will help with the up tempo style we would like to
implore in 2011-12,” Jones said.
Game Schedule
May 19 vs. University of Electronic Science & Technology
May 20 vs. Southwest University of Finance & Economics
May 21 vs. Southwest Jiatong University
May 23 vs. Shanghai Jiao Tong University
YaleBulldogs.com will provide blogs from the players, photo
galleries and game recaps.
