FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas' basketball team will play four exhibition games during a 10-day tour of Spain, giving the players lots of free time to spend together off the court.
"These guys come from different backgrounds, and it gives them a chance to form that brotherhood, we call it," Razorbacks Coach Mike Anderson said. "And trust me, you've got to win off the floor before you win on the floor."
Razorbacks in Spain
All times Central
Here’s a rundown of the Arkansas’ basketball team’s 10-day tour of Spain, including four exhibition games, game times and location:
SATURDAY Leave for Madrid
TUESDAY Euro Colegio Casvi, 1 p.m., Madrid
WEDNESDAY Albacete Basket, 10:30 a.m., Valencia
AUG. 13 Barcelona Region All-Stars, 2 p.m., Barcelona
AUG. 14 European Basketball Academy, 1 p.m., Barcelona
AUG. 16 Return home
Forward Arlando Cook, a junior college transfer, is among eight newcomers Arkansas added to five returnees.
"This trip is going to help us newcomers see where we fit in and how we can help the older guys," Cook said.
All of the Razorbacks have been on campus for several weeks and going through workouts allowed by NCAA rules.
"This group here already this summer has done a lot of bonding," Anderson said. "But when we go overseas, it's going to be even moreso, because they can't just pick up their phones and make a call. It might be like a $20 charge.
"So now they'll spend even more time together. We always talk about how as a team, you've got to all be on the same page. That's what part of this trip is about."
Arkansas will have finished 10 on-campus practices before leaving Saturday for Madrid, where the Razorbacks play their first exhibition game against Euro Colegio Cavi at 1 p.m. Central Tuesday.
"We've been trying to help the new guys get acclimated as quickly as possible, and these 10 practices are going to help speed up the process," Arkansas senior guard Dusty Hannahs said. "Teams normally aren't practicing now and we get 10 days of a head start before the fall semester even begins.
"That's going to be really, really beneficial for us, because if we weren't doing this, it would just be two hours a week of summer workouts, guys getting shots, playing pickup."
Junior forward Dustin Thomas, who redshirted last after after transferring from Colorado to Arkansas, said the Razorbacks have good team chemistry that should get better.
"It's definitely going to help us in the future," Thomas said. "You've got to have that bond to be successful as a team.
"Everybody has to be on the same page and understand their roles. You can't have anybody out on the court being greedy. When you have a team coming together that has good chemistry, there's nothing but positive results."
Anderson's second team at Missouri went 16-16 during the 2007-08 season. The Tigers went on a tour of Canada the next summer, with seven newcomers, and in the 2008-09 season went 31-7 and reached the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.
After Arkansas went on a tour of Italy in the summer of 2012 in Anderson's second season, the Razorbacks improved to 10-8 in the SEC during the 2012-13 season after going 6-10 the year before.
The Razorbacks are coming off a 16-16 season.
"I think the timing couldn't be any better," Anderson said of this summer's trip. "It'll give our guys a little higher confidence level when we come back.
"Hopefully, we can formulate that chemistry we need as a team quicker than we have in other years."
Sports on 08/03/2016