University of Portland Line Up Exhibition Tour in England

By Sam Neter on August 6, 2017

Portland Athletics

The University of Portland basketball team – which features Brit Josh McSwiggan – have finalised plans for a foreign later this month in England, head coach Terry Porter announced.

The team will depart Portland for London on August 12 and then return on August 22. A majority of the tour will be spent in Leicester and London as the Pilots will play four games against a Newcastle Eagles and Leicester Riders select squad, Barking Abbey and a yet-to-be-announced team in a closed-door scrimmage.

With the Eagles and Riders BBL squads yet to be finalised, it is expected both sides will be playing with a number of players from their D1 feeder programmes.

McSwiggan, who came through the Charnwood College/Loughborough Student Riders programme, is a redshirt sophomore transfer with Portland. The former Great Britain Under-20 graduated from Charnwood in 2015, originally signing with UTEP and having to out a year due to an NCAA eligibility ruling, before transferring to Casper Community College where he averaged 13.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game this season

The Portland team – who are coached by 17 year NBA veteran and 2 time All-Star Terry Porter – will also have 10 days of formal practice in advance of the tour, which will be of great value as the Pilots welcome nine newcomers to the roster for the 2017-18 season.

“This is a great opportunity for our team and the next step in developing our program,” said Porter, entering his second year on The Bluff.

“We have a lot of new guys that we will be integrating this year, so the extra practice time and chance to play some quality competition will be worthwhile. It is going to be a great team-bonding experience as well and we will learn a lot over the next month.”

The Pilots will arrive in London on August 13 and then bus to Leicester as the primary home base for the trip. A number of practices and games are scheduled to take place at the Leicester Arena and in London during the trip.

Portland has further connections to the United Kingdom as assistant coach Kramer Knutson played two years in the BBL for the London Lions (2013-14) and then for Surrey United (2014-15) before returning to Portland and pursuing his coaching career.

In addition to the basketball, the travel group will take part in a variety of tourist and team bonding activities. Currently planned activities in Leicester include visits to Belvoir Castle, Alton Towers, the King Richard III Centre and Leicester Cathedral. London plans include Buckingham Palace, London Dungeon, and attending the Great Britain versus Greece National Team basketball game – which takes place on the same day as their game against Barking Abbey, which will be at Barking Abbey.

Portland’s roster features nine newcomers as well as two returning redshirts that join four returning lettermen from last season. Hoop Scoop ranked Portland’s incoming recruiting class No. 10 nationally and all 15 members of the roster will be available to take part in the foreign tour.

2017 Portland Basketball London Foreign Tour Itinerary
August 2-11: Team Training Camp/Practices at UP campus
August 12 – Depart Portland for London
August 13-19 – Staying in Leicester
August 19-22 – Staying in London
August 22 – Depart London and return to Portland

Scheduled games to be played
Aug. 15 vs. Newcastle Eagles at Leicester Arena (tickets)
Aug. 16 closed scrimmage vs. TBA at Leicester Arena
Aug. 17 vs. Leicester Riders at Leicester Arena (tickets)
Aug. 19 vs. Barking Abbey Basketball Academy at Barking Abbey

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