Big Ten Foreign Basketball Tour

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Big Ten Announces Men's Foreign Tour Team




By Staff Reports
Date: Jul 26, 2005

Indiana senior forward Marco Killingsworth is one of 12 players who will travel to Spain Aug. 9-19 to compete on the Big Ten Foreign Tour Team, which will be coached by Illinois' Bruce Weber.

The Big Ten officially announced the 2005 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Foreign Tour Team, which will play five games in Spain from Aug. 9-19. Indiana’s Marco Killingsworth is one of 12 players on the squad, which will be coached by Illinois Coach Bruce Weber.

This will be the first game action since the 2003-04 season for the 6-8, 265-pound Killingsworth, when he averaged a team-best 13.7 points and 6.9 rebounds for Auburn in 2003-04. Killingsworth, who earned second-team All-SEC honors as a junior, decided to transfer at the conclusion of the 2004 season after Coach Cliff Ellis was fired, and ultimately wound up in Bloomington. Due to transfer rules, Killingsworth had to sit out the 2004-05 season, giving him one year of eligibility at IU.

"I'm really excited about going on the Foreign Tour and even more excited to finally get back on the court," Killingsworth said in a prepared statement. "I get a chance to get myself back into basketball shape and get used to playing with referees again. I think it will be a great experience and will give me the chance to get back into shape and improve my game."

In addition to Kilingsworth, the 2005 Foreign Tour Team will include a pair of Weber’s own players in guards Calvin Brock and Brian Randle. Brock and Randle both enter this year after sitting out the 2004-05 season as redshirts. In addition, the Tour squad will have two other guards in Iowa’s Mike Henderson and Northwestern’s Evan Seacat. Henderson saw action in all 33 games with 14 starts at the point guard position last season to rank fourth on the team with a 4.9 scoring average. Seacat enters his senior season after seeing action in 73 career games.

The Foreign Tour Team includes six student-athletes who play the forward position in Indiana’s Marco Killingsworth, Michigan’s Ron Coleman, Ohio State’s Matt Terwilliger, Penn State’s Brandon Hassell, Purdue’s Matt Kiefer and Wisconsin’s Jason Chappell.

In his first season in Ann Arbor, Coleman worked his way into the lineup, starting in 23 of 31 Big Ten games to finish the season with an average of 7.5 points per contest. Terwilliger saw action in 15 games for the Buckeyes under first-year head coach Thad Matta. Hassell competed in 20 contests and earned his first career start against Illinois last season. Kiefer averaged 9.0 points and 4.9 rebounds per game last year, while claiming Academic All-Big Ten laurels for the second consecutive year. After sitting out his sophomore season as a redshirt, Chappell returned in 2004-05, competing in 14 games.

Weber will also have two centers to choose from in Michigan State’s Goran Suton and Minnesota’s Spencer Tollackson. Suton sat out last season as a redshirt, while Tollackson competed in all 32 games last season with three starts for the Golden Gophers.

Its nice to see Terwilliger get a chance to play some very competitive basketball. This will help with his development. Overall, reports have been very good about his improvement this summer.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

scout.com$

8/6/05

Bulked Up Terwilliger Ready For Eurotrip

Matt Terwilliger

By Dave Biddle Assistant Editor
Date: Aug 5, 2005

As a freshman in 2004-05, Matt Terwilliger only appeared in 15 games for Ohio State and didn't put up the numbers he was looking for. But an offseason in the weight room has produced a more physically-imposing Terwilliger. He will represent OSU on the Big Ten Foreign Tour to Spain and is looking forward to the trip for a variety of reasons.

Terwilliger is at 240-245 right now and is looking forward to the chance to gain some experience on this tour.

He had a couple of comments about Brayden Bell......he said do not leave him open because he can shoot it and if he gets into better shape, he will really help the team.


rivals.com (free)

6/8/05

August 6, 2005
Terwilliger pumped about foreign tour Jeff Rapp
BuckeyeSports.com Staff Writer
Not many Big Ten fans, even the ones who follow Ohio State, seem to know much or overly care about the development of OSU sophomore Matt Terwilliger.

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Associated Press

OSU forward Matt Terwilliger believes the Big Ten Foreign Tour will make him a better player.The ones who matter most -- the OSU coaches, his teammates and Terwilliger himself -- do, however, see him in a position of significance.

At 6-9 and able to move and jump, Terwilliger is a potential commodity for the Buckeyes. With the loss of Matt Marinchick and with Terwilliger's added bulk, the guy affectionately known as "Twig" figures to get a chance to impact the front line and at least play safety net for senior center Terence Dials.

That definitely is important, especially considering OSU coach Thad Matta will have just 10 scholarship players this season, three of them true post players -- and that's if you include 6-9 frosh Brayden Bell, who is best known as an outside shooter.

Therefore, it should not be a surprise that Matta tabbed Terwilliger to represent OSU on the Big Ten Foreign Tour Team that will compete in Spain later this month.

In meeting with the media Thursday, the Troy, Ohio, native was asked if he speaks any Spanish.

"Poco," he said.

That doesn't matter, though. What does is that Terwilliger will get to partake of a life experience overseas -- and will get the jump on a competitive setting to see if he indeed can become a name in Columbus.

Marinchick is among the former Buckeyes who played on the Foreign Tour Team

"He said it's a blast," Terwilliger said. "I just talked to him in the locker room. He said, 'It's going to be the time of your life.' "

As a prep star, Terwilliger got to travel with an all-star team to Italy, playing with other in-state standouts such as Travis Walton (now at Michigan State) and Seth Gorney (Iowa).

Terwilliger said he was set to arrive in Champaign, Ill., today to begin working out with the team, which is headed up by Illinois coach Bruce Weber. His teammates will be UI's Calvin Brock and Brian Randle, Indiana's Marco Killingsworth, Iowa's Mike Henderson, Michigan's Ron Coleman, Michigan State's Goran Suton, Minnesota's Spencer Tollackson, Northwestern's Evan Seacat, Penn State's Brandon Hassell, Purdue's Matt Kiefer and Wisconsin's Jason Chappell.

The 12 players will practice for a few days then head to Spain Aug. 9 and stay through Aug. 19. They are guaranteed to play four games against top Spanish teams -- four in Barcelona and one in Valencia.

The team is dominated with frontline players so Terwilliger will find himself in the same situation as his freshman season at OSU -- battling for playing time.

"There's a bunch of fours and fives," he said. "I'll just try to play hard and get my minutes."

Terwilliger managed to eke out bit time in just 15 of 32 games in his debut season but he vowed moments after that campaign ended to be a more viable option for the team this season.

His weight now ranges between 240-245 pounds after reporting at about 225 last year. His maximum bench is up 15 pounds to 270 and he said he can get an extra 60 pounds off the ground in squats.

"I'm eating everything," he said. "I'm trying to eat healthy, though, so it's not just fatty weight."

More than anything, though, Terwilliger is committed to giving more effort on the court.

"Just playing hard," he said. "Whether things are going good or going bad you've just got to play hard all the time. You're not going to get everything right all the time, but effort will make up for any kind of mental mistakes."

Terwilliger said his lack of playing time last year came from not being prepared and in looking back now he realizes he probably could have redshirted.

"I really blame myself for it because it wasn't anything Coach did," he said. "He gave me the opportunity to play right from the start. He even said at the start of the year, 'you can get minutes,' and my head went south. I have to make sure that doesn't happen again.

"Because I wasn't playing I'd mess up in practice and forget a play here or there. I just realized after a while that you've got to run around and play hard even if you don't know all the plays. Run around and act like you know what you're doing."

Terwilliger admitted being overwhelmed at times, which led to his lack of intensity.

"We had three plays in high school, and now we have 30 sets with six plays each -- something like that. It's a little different," he said.

Knowing Weber's penchant for running intricate sets, Terwilliger better brush up on his X's and O's as well as his espanol.

 

[jwinslow]

We need Twigs to step up in a big way more than any other player, especially if we want to make a run in 2006. Oden is a monster, but he needs a backup to lighten his minutes and fill in during foul trouble. We have plenty of depth elsewhere, but we need someone with experience to backup Oden (Bell will only be here for a year, and we might be able to land Morrison out of a juco, but he's more of a PF).

Hopefully he can make some big strides in his game over there. His number may need to be called often this year.

 

[HabaneroBuck]

Benching 270, and increasing his squat by 60 lbs. Those are great numbers to hear, and he looks nice and fit. He's never been of the build to worry about excess weight, so the fact that he's added some should really send his confidence soaring this year. If he can contribute 5 points and 3 rebounds a game, I think the team will benefit greatly from him. Great opportunity to go and play in Europe for a few weeks. It always seems like they invite players who don't see much action in the Big Ten, so that tour seems like a nice benefit, at least it would be nice in my eyes.

 

[jwinslow]

I wonder if there are any stories about average big10 players who really got a big boost out of playing in this tourney in years past.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Big Ten Foreign Tour Team Drops to 0-2

Spencer Tollackson is on Foreign Tour team

By Chris Monter
Date: Aug 16, 2005

The Big Ten Men’s Basketball Foreign Tour team, which includes Minnesota sophomore center Spencer Tollackson, suffered its second loss of the trip falling to VIC Barcelona, 110-104, on Monday in Barcelona, Spain. Tollackson finished with seven points and five rebounds in the loss.

The conference squad returned to action against VIC Barcelona, and looked ready to avenge Saturday’s loss as the teams remained even at the end of the first period (30-30). After falling behind in the second period, 58-53, the Tour squad responded, posting a 10-2 run late in the third quarter to cut the deficit from 15 points to seven, before the hosts claimed an 82-73 edge heading into the final stanza. The Big Ten continued to rally, cutting the lead to three points in the final six minutes, however the Spanish club team ended the Tour contingent’s comeback with a three-pointer at the 45-second mark to ensure a 110-104 triumph.

Illinois’ Calvin Brock and Brian Randle led the Big Ten squad with 18 and 17 points, respectively. Randle also added a team-best seven rebounds, while Brock tallied five assists. Indiana’s Marco Killingsworth followed with 14 points and four rebounds and Michigan State’s Goran Suton closed out the league’s double-figure scorers with 10 points. Northwestern’s Evan Seacat also dished out a team-best six assists, while tallying nine points.

Despite scoring over 100 points in the last two games, the Big Ten Foreign Tour Team is now 0-2 on its journey through Europe and will next travel to Valencia, Spain to take on the Alcora Basketball Club on Tuesday and the Pamesa Valencia Basketball Club on Wednesday.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Big Ten Wins First Game in Spain
Ohio State's Matt Terwilliger scores six points in victory

Aug. 17, 2005

The Big Ten Men's Basketball Foreign Tour team picked up its first win of the trip with a 99-82 triumph over the Alcora Basketball Club in Valencia, Spain, Tuesday.

The Big Ten trailed after the opening period with a deficit of 25-22 however the conference contingent bounced back in the second stanza, posting an 11-0 run to outscore the hosts 40-31. The Tour squad then built a 73-65 advantage after three periods before holding on for the 17-point victory.

Minnesota sophomore Spencer Tollackson led the Big Ten in scoring for the first time, pouring in 17 points, while Michigan State sophomore Goran Suton became the first conference standout to post a double-double during the Tour, tallying 16 points and a team-high 15 rebounds. Indiana senior Marco Killingsworth boasted another consistent performance with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Michigan sophomore Ron Coleman and Illinois sophomore Brian Randle also reached double figures in scoring with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

The Big Ten Foreign Tour Team improves to 1-2 on its journey through Europe and is averaging 106.7 points per contest. Four conference standouts are averaging double figures in points, led by the Fighting Illini's Randle with 14.0 points per outing. Other double-figure scorers are Indiana's Killingsworth (13.3), Illinois' Calvin Brock (13.0), Michigan's Coleman (11.0) and Minnesota's Tollackson (10.7).

The team will remain in Valencia to face Pamesa Valencia Basketball Club on Wednesday before concluding the 2005 Tour against C.B. Valls Basketball Club on Thursday in Barcelona.

 

[Golferdow01]

I wish Twiggy would put up some noteworthy #'s so we could hear about him :(