Georgia’s basketball team will have an in-house tour guide when the Bulldogs travel to Italy for a series of exhibition games later this month.
The country is transfer Russel Tchewa’s second home.
“I moved there when I was 14,” the transfer from South Florida said during an interview session Thursday with reporters.
The 7-footer smiled when asked what his new teammates have in store.
“When you think about Italy, you think about good food. It’s a Christian country, it’s a tourist country. It’s a combo of everything, you know?” smiled Tchewa, who lived in Italy for five years before moving to America to continue his basketball career.
Senior Jabri Abdur-Rahim—who will be traveling to Europe for the first time—laughed and added that he will not hesitate to lean on his new teammate for advice.
“I actually just found that out the other day. It’s crazy,” Abdur-Rahim said. “He calls it his second home, so it’s cool that he gets to go back. I know some of us will be confused about some things over there, so maybe we ask him.”
The Bulldogs will depart for Rome on July 20, where the team is scheduled to play exhibition games on July 23, 24, and 26. Georgia also will visit Florence and Sorrento before returning to Athens on July 29.
Georgia will be making its third European tour in the last 11 years. The Bulldogs also traveled to Italy in 2012 and visited Spain in 2016.
“I’m excited. I haven’t, and a lot of us haven’t been to Europe, so it’s exciting to travel the world,” Abdur-Rahim said. “We’re all very grateful, and we’re looking forward to competing against some of the teams and traveling around the country.”
Of course, head coach Mike White hopes his team gets a lot more out of the trip than some good food.
With the overseas trip, the Bulldogs are allotted 10 very important practice days.
“They’re more valuable. You get the 10 additional plus the other hours that the NCAA started giving us in the summers a few years ago, so we’ve taken full advantage. We’ve tried to mix in some light workouts, some offensive and defensive installs, some workouts where it’s more talking and less strenuous,” White said. “I feel we’ve got to be careful with the level of physicality in June and July. We’ll go to Italy, compete with some older teams, and get to evaluate where we’re at—and get right back at it when we come to school, so we’ve got to be smart there as well.
"But we’ve gotten a lot done. The intensity level, the competitiveness level in the practice gym has been impressive to this point.”
As to the competition the Bulldogs will face, White is unclear of the level it will be. Teams will be older, and Georgia’s head coach hopes that means the kind of test that will give the Bulldogs a jump on their preparation for this season.
“Honestly, I don’t care if we win or lose. I want to play well; I want to get better. We’re going to play different combinations. We’ll get three opportunities over there and play each guy. Right now, we’re actually considering only playing each guy in a couple of games so we can really evaluate everybody,” White said. “Again, it’s not about winning and losing over there. Hopefully, we play really good teams that we can learn from—hopefully have some success, but also have some struggles, so we can learn both ways.”
Per Abdur-Rahim, the trip figures to be a bonding experience nobody in the program will forget.
“We’ve got a bunch of young guys, but it’s been really, really good,” he said. “For me, it’s my third year here, second under Coach White, so I think for me it’s about just trying to bring everyone together and leading by example. Everybody has come together really, really nicely.”
