After Matt Matheny was hired in March 2009 as Elon University's 17th head basketball coach, he and athletic director Dave Blank discussed an innovative idea.
"When we were discussing the possibility of this position back in 2009, we talked about a lot of things," said Matheny, who became the new coach after serving 16 years as an assistant at Davidson College. "One of the things we talked about was the possibility of taking a foreign trip, or European trip. We talked about how that would fit into Elon's desire for 100 percent of the student body to study overseas."
That idea was implemented this summer.
This August, the Elon Phoenix took an 11-day excursion through Europe to showcase its skills on the hardwood against professional athletes. The team arrived in Munich, on Aug. 12. The team hit the ground running, playing its first two games the next day in Vilsbiburg, Germany. Unlike typical games, the Phoenix had no scouting reports to go off of.
"We showed up and played," senior guard Drew Spradlin said. "You can tell as soon as you get on the court who's the point guard, who are the wings. After a couple plays, you know how they're trying to play."
Elon set the tone by winning the first two games. For the three freshmen on the team, those two games were the first they had ever played above the high school level.
Used to playing against people anywhere from 14 to 18 years old, guards Austin Hamilton and Kevin Blake and forward Ryan Winters were now competing against experienced professional athletes 10 years their senior.
"We had nine total practices, and then we said, 'All right, play.' That's not an ideal environment to perform at a high level," Matheny said. "We understood that as coaches. Not only is it a tough situation where we're asking them to play in our system after nine practices, but now you're playing 28, 29, 30 year olds."
While they were trying to win games on the tour, the coaching staff recognized that these games gave them the opportunity to try new things, experiment with different lineups and look to find combinations that work well on the floor.
"We were able to experiment with guys playing multiple positions," Matheny said. "We played veterans with newcomers, and newcomers with newcomers, and veterans with veterans. It was like a laboratory for us."
After a tough loss to Nuremberg Aug. 15, the team left Germany and took a couple days off to travel and take in the sights. After a short stay in Innsbruck, Austria, the team arrived in Italy, where it spent the rest of the trip. In Milan Aug. 20, the experienced club of Blu Basket CoMark Treviglio beat the Phoenix.
"Our last game we played, you could tell they were older. Physically they were bigger than us," sophomore guard Jack Isenbarger said. "They were just a strong team. We were almost outmatched, outsized in almost every position, which hurt us."
Two days later, the Phoenix returned to the United States. As the players prepare for the regular season, their goal remained simple.
"Get better," Matheny said. "We want to elevate our program. Our players are fully aware that we're in a situation where we have an opportunity to get better."