Sean Miller, the coaching staff and he Arizona Wildcats will spend the next week in the Bahamas. Per an NCAA rule, each basketball program is allowed an international trip every four years to build team chemistry, get 10 extra practices in and play a few games with local teams.
Friday marked the first day of practice for the Wildcats. They spent 90 minutes getting after it in the Kendal G.L. Isaacs Gymnasium, which houses about 2,000 fans when open to the public. Here is a video of a few drills UA ran.
If a few players look unfamiliar to you, it's probably because they're one of the seven newcomers to the program.
No. 21, seen around the 0:48 mark, is freshman forward Brandon Ashley.
No. 1, seen shooting and doing various drills throughout, is freshman guard Gabe York.
No. 35, also seen doing drills and various dunks, is freshman center Kaleb Tarczewski. Yes, he's rather large.
After practice wrapped up, the team had the rest of the day to explore the island and have some fun. This whole trip is about gaining chemistry with each other, especially with so many new faces in Tucson.
"It's nice to have the team together this time of year," coach Miller said. "It's a chance for us to develop stronger relationships in part because we have so many new faces. Having them together is priceless and continues our team growth as we move closer to the start of our season."
For continued updates on Arizona basketball, check out AZ Desert Swarm.