Scots Back From Fall Break Trip to Spain

The College of Wooster men's basketball team took advantage of the school's new academic calendar and spent the week-long fall break (Oct. 4-12) in Spain, experiencing a European country that is known for having adopted its historical traditions with modern-day conveniences and offering diverse tourist attractions from beaches to old castles to large cities.

The Wooster group, which included 14 student-athletes, two coaches, and some friends of the program, got a taste of each of those experiences, and the Fighting Scots also played some basketball, competing in four games against club teams there. The NCAA permits such international tours every three years.

"We all had a great time. It was the first time in Europe for almost all of us. Just a great experience," said senior point guard Jalen Goodwin. "It was beautiful out there and amazing to see the different culture."

While they flew into the capital city of Madrid, the trip officially began in Almuñécar, an area in southern Spain bordering the Mediterranean Sea. In addition to the beaches there, Wooster explored the Caves of Nerja, a spectacular series of naturally-formed caverns stretching about three miles, and toured the Alhambra, a large castle built in the 13th and 14th centuries on top of a hill near the city of Granada well known for its architectural details and reddish-brown exterior walls.

"Traveling to the different cities on the Mediterranean (was my favorite part)," Goodwin said. "The towns there were beautiful with the white housing. You could look one way and see mountains and look the other and see the Mediterranean. I loved it."

On Wednesday, the group loaded on to a train and headed back to Madrid for a stay there, which began with a traditional dinner and Flamenco show. The next day, they went to the Palacio Real, the largest palace in Europe (by floor area), which consists of both a museum featuring armor, art, and treasures and the official home of the Spanish royal family.

The last major sightseeing adventure was a trip to the historical city of Toledo. Very important in terms of the history of Spain, ancient buildings and cobblestone streets remain, encircled by city walls.

As for the basketball, the Scots had to adjust to playing FIBA rules and their opponents varied in age. Wooster initially lost to Coviran Granada 87-68, then won its remaining games against Unicaja Rincon Malaga (83-72), Covibar Rivas (93-79), and Real Canoe (77-70).

"The competition was good," remarked head coach Steve Moore. "We didn't play the very top teams in Spain, but they were good teams. There were a lot of bright spots during the games."

Statistically, senior guard Xavier Brown was the leading scorer of the trip at 16.3 points per game, while sophomore forward Dan Fanelly averaged a double-double of 16.0 points and 10.3 rebounds. Senior wing Evan Pannell wasn't far behind in the scoring department (14.3 ppg) and sophomore guard Milt Davis also hit for double figures (10.0 ppg).

The rest of the student-athletes consisted of Goodwin, juniors Josh Kipfer and Chris Logsdon, sophomores Liam Fukushima, Alex LaLonde, and Nick Nossaman, and freshmen Alex Belinsky, Derek Schwarz, Ari Stern, and Spencer Williams.

This was the fifth such trip for the Wooster basketball program, with previous teams having visited Ireland and Scotland (2011), Italy (2008), Germany and Austria (2004), and England and Scotland (2000).