Missouri basketball will take precautions for upcoming Italy trip

Missouri men’s basketball isn’t naïve about the volatile climate in Europe — including recent terrorist attacks in France, Belgium, Turkey and Germany — but it won’t keep the Tigers from making a 10-day trek to Italy beginning next week.

“We’ve taken a lot of precautions on this trip,” third-year Mizzou coach Kim Anderson said. “There’s always been questions about security and things that happened in the world. I know North Carolina State canceled their trip, but we feel very good and very safe.”

That doesn’t mean Anderson and the Tigers’ athletic department are taking security for granted.

MU has invited an FBI liaison to speak with the team about traveling to a foreign country, since it’s a new experience for most of the 15 players who are taking part in the excursion.

“It’s not really a panic thing,” said Anderson, who played two professional seasons in Italy after his career with the Tigers. “It’s more of an informative thing, so our guys can ask questions.”

With help from the compliance department, Missouri also upgraded the cell phone plans of everyone in the traveling party to include international roaming, which should facilitate and streamline communication.

“There has been discussion about security while we’re there, and that something that we’re still looking into,” Anderson said.

After a standout career with the Tigers in the 1970s, Anderson spent two seasons with Libertas Forli, a professional basketball team in Italy that folded in 2015. He’s comfortable with the tour the team is embarking upon and so are the players.

“The coaching staff is going to take care of us,” freshman shooting guard Frankie Hughes said. “We’re not worried. We’ll be together all the time, and I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t put us in any situation that could hurt us.”

NCAA rules allow Mizzou to conduct 10 practices ahead of the international tour, which a program is permitted to take once every four years.

Anderson said the team has utilized three practices in the last few weeks and has seven more scheduled before departing for Italy from Aug. 5-15.

“They will probably be a little more intense,” he said. “We have a lot to learn in a short period of time, especially with the new guys. The new guys have done really well. On the floor, they’ve been very good learners and I think this experience of the practices leading up to the trip will really be good for us.”

Anderson said Hughes, who has been dealing with a bruised hand in recent weeks, brings energy and a much-needed shooting threat from the outside.

His former Garfield Heights High teammate from Cleveland, freshman swingman Willie Jackson, plays with a nonstop motor, while freshman forward Mitchell Smith is adding weight and could provide some rim protection and an inside scoring presence.

Meanwhile, junior college transfer Jordan Geist has impressed at point guard, according to Anderson.

Those players and mid-summer signee Jakoby Kemp will get their first taste of real game action with Mizzou on the trip.

Former Texas forward Jordan Barnett, who isn’t eligible until Dec. 17 after transferring from the Longhorns at semester last season, won’t be eligible to play in the exhibition games in Italy, but he remains eligible to practice.

“There are rules, and you’ve got to follow them,” Barnett said. “It’s going to be fun supporting my teammates as they play some of the teams, and it’s going to be fun just being there. I can’t wait to experience it.”

Freshman forward Reed Nikko, who had surgery on both hips last spring to correct hip impingement, also is back at practice but won’t play in the overseas games.

Anderson also provided an update of sorts regarding the NCAA investigation into rules violations that largely predate his arrival.

“I don’t know anything,” he said about when the final NCAA report will be released. “I wish I did. I would anticipate something happening soon, but other than that I really can’t give you much update. I wish I could. I’m looking forward to everything coming out and putting it behind us.”

This story was originally published July 26, 2016 at 6:41 PM with the headline "Missouri basketball will take precautions for upcoming Italy trip."