Jim Boeheim on Canada trip: Syracuse players will report for practice Aug. 15

Syracuse, NY -- Summer vacation for Syracuse University basketball players ends early this year. The Orange men, scheduled to play four exhibition games in Canada next month, will report to the Melo Center for active duty by the middle of August.

SU coach Jim Boeheim said practice likely will start on or near Aug. 15. The Orange will probably work out in the Melo Center for four days before departing for Montreal on Aug. 19 or 20, Boeheim said. Syracuse will play two exhibition games in Montreal and two in Ottawa.

The Orange face Bishops University (Aug. 21) and McGill University (Aug. 22) in Montreal. Those games take place in McGill's arena. SU then travels to Ottawa to take on Carleton University (Aug. 23) at Scotiabank Place and Ottawa University (Aug. 24) in Montpetit Hall. Tickets are available for all games.

Boeheim planned for an international trip this summer because of the wealth of young and inexperienced players on his 2013-14 roster. The Orange signed five freshmen to letters of intent. It will introduce a rookie point guard (Toronto native Tyler Ennis) to college basketball and welcome a Duke transfer who sat out all of last season (Michael Gbinije).

The NCAA permits teams that schedule international summer games to practice during an otherwise prohibited period.

"This is a great experience for all the guys like Mike, who sat out. And Dajuan (Coleman) didn't get much time last year with the injury, so it's a great opportunity for him," Boeheim said. "And the freshman point guard. So yeah, this is a great thing for us. It couldn't have come at a better time."

Boeheim, in Las Vegas this week with USA Basketball, isn't sure how many of his players will make the trip. Sophomore forward Jerami Grant contracted mononucleosis this summer while training with USA Basketball's U19 team. He journeyed to Prague in the Czech Republic with the team, only to be diagnosed with mono and scratched from the roster.

Grant stayed in Prague to cheer his teammates. (His mother, Beverly, said he could not bear the immediate, long plane trip home.)

Whether Grant accompanies Syracuse to Canada has not been decided. He has spent time this week in Syracuse.

"There's a lot of things like that," Boeheim said, "that we're going to have to determine probably within the next week to 10 days."

Boeheim expects to know more about the status of his freshmen soon, too. All of SU's rookies must be cleared by the NCAA before they can join their teammates on an international trip. Tyler Roberson, a freshman from Roselle Catholic in New Jersey, has been taking classes at home to ensure his freshman eligibility.

"Getting all of them cleared is not always easy to do on time," Boeheim said. "So we probably won't know that for another two weeks. Then, we'll know exactly who's going. Whoever goes, we'll have a good group and it'll be good for the guys that go."

Source: http://www.syracuse.com/orangebasketball/index.ssf/2013/07/jim_boeheim_on_canada_trip_syr.html

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