Gauchos get extra practice time this summer for Vancouver trip
UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Summer basketball is in session at UCSB.
The Gauchos returned to practice as they prepare for next month's trip to Vancouver to play in some exhibition games.
Schools can make a foreign tour ever four years and UCSB head coach Joe Pasternack appreciates the extra practice time for a team that is long on talent but short on experience.
"We only have three guys that played college basketball(Division 1) 10 minutes a game," began Pasternack. "Cole Anderson, Josh Pierre-Louis and Ajay Mitchell. All of these other guys have a lot of potential, Yohan Traore is one of them that has an unbelievable potential but he didn't have any experience playing college basketball really last year, Ben Shtolzberg as well so having these 8 weeks of practice, 10 days of real practices getting ready for Vancouver is going to give our team experience which we need."
The Vancouver trip is from August 5-9.
The Gauchos are coming off a school-record 27 win season in which they were co-Big West regular season champions, conference tournament champs and they played in their second NCAA Tournament in the past three years.
Mitchell is the reigning Big West Player of the Year and the junior is now over 200 pounds as he has worked on his body and outside shooting according to Pasternack.
Traore was a 5-star recruit coming out of high school but he did not see that much playing time for a loaded Auburn squad.
The 6'10 sophomore Traore along with 7-foot junior college transfer Mezziah Oakman create an athletic frontcourt along with Matija Belic, Evans Kipruto, Ariel Bland and Koat Keat Tong(he is still recovering from injury).
Belic is playing overseas at the moment in the 2023 FIBA U20 European Championships.
The Gauchos are expected to bring in another player from that tournament to add to their roster.
The backcourt has plenty of talent and experience with returners Mitchell, Josh Pierre-Louis and Cole Anderson.
They will be joined by Creighton-transfer Ben Shtolzberg and true freshman Jason Fontenet Jr.
