Which women’s basketball teams are taking foreign tours in 2024? – The Next

At least 29 Division I teams are traveling this summer, according to information provided to The Next by 10 leading tour companies and several schools’ athletic departments. (Additional tour companies did not respond to multiple requests by email and phone. This story will be updated if more information becomes available.)

NCAA rules allow teams to take foreign tours once every four years. Nearly 80 teams traveled in 2022 or 2023, making them unable to travel this summer. Still, more teams are traveling this summer than in 2022, when the COVID-19 pandemic prompted some teams to postpone their tours another year.

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Foreign tours provide clear benefits on the court for teams that travel. Teams play exhibition games while they’re abroad, and the NCAA allows them to have 10 extra practices before they depart. This benefit can be especially valuable for teams that have new head coaches or that have had lots of roster turnover due to transfers or graduation.

Maryland is a prime example of this, welcoming 10 newcomers for the 2024-25 season. The Terrapins leave for a tour of Croatia and Montenegro on Monday.

“That is invaluable to be able to have those 10 [extra] practices and be able to take your team over and get some games under your belt,” Maryland head coach Brenda Frese told The Next’s Howard Megdal on an episode of Locked On Women’s Basketball in May. “And [it] couldn’t have worked out [better]. I never thought we’d have this many new players coming in and here we are. So the timing is absolutely perfect to be able to have this summer and the access we’re going to be able to have.”

For many coaches, though, the basketball benefits are secondary to all that players learn about the culture and history of their destinations. They visit monuments, museums and historic sites; eat (and sometimes learn to cook) local cuisine; and shop at local markets. During Maine women’s basketball’s trip to Australia in May, the itinerary included the Sydney Opera House, the Great Barrier Reef, an Australian football game and a wildlife sanctuary called Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures.