{"id":22841,"date":"2023-11-02T11:43:52","date_gmt":"2023-11-02T15:43:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transy.edu\/1780\/?p=22841"},"modified":"2024-12-10T14:48:46","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T19:48:46","slug":"pioneers-basketball-makes-splash-in-bahamas-over-fall-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transy.edu\/1780\/2023\/11\/pioneers-basketball-makes-splash-in-bahamas-over-fall-break\/","title":{"rendered":"Pioneers basketball makes splash in Bahamas over fall break"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Twice in the past decade, the Transylvania men’s basketball team has traveled to Canada to play exhibition games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year, they opted for more southerly environs \u2014 as in sapphire-blue water and palm trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team spent this past fall break on Great Exuma Island in the Bahamas teaching basketball fundamentals to local youths, facing off against the Bahamas Select Team and squeezing in a little beach time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was a great opportunity for us,” coach Brian Lane said. Besides getting to take a dip in the “bluest water you’ve ever seen,” going on an foreign trip earned them 10 extra days of practice they otherwise wouldn’t have gotten before the regular season kicks off Nov. 13 against archrival Centre. (The NCAA allows teams to compete outside the country every three years.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lane’s favorite photo from the Bahamas is of his players holding up a child for a dunk. It captures the spirit of last month’s trip \u2014 the joy they brought to the islanders while having fun themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“The kids loved it,” Lane said. A lot of them returned to the outdoor court the next day to watch the Pioneers win the exhibition game; check out a recording of the action<\/a> on Voices of Exuma by James Moss on Facebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facilitated by Lexington-based bdG Sports, the trip was a community effort made possible through alumni support and local orthodontists White, Greer & Maggard, who donated 120 shirts to the youths participating in the two-hour basketball clinic. The Bahamas Basketball Federation and Bahamas Ministry of Tourism also came through with an assist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The players, who already had experience working with youths through the summertime Brian Lane Basketball Camp, taught basics like dribbling, shooting and defensive drills at the Bahamas clinic. (There’s also talk of expanding the team’s involvement with local schoolchildren, possibly through clinics at parks, and supporting the kids back in the Bahamas with donations.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What an AWESOME evening in downtown George Town Exuma hosting our youth basketball camp. Special thanks to @bahamas1<\/a> @visitthebahamas<\/a> & @bdGlobalSports<\/a> for organizing everything & allowing our players to fly in & bring an energy level that was off the charts. So many smiles!\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/pyP4tXRysW<\/a><\/p>— Coach Lane & Realtor (@TUCoachLane) October 15, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote>