Under normal summer conditions, basketball programs are allowed four hours of basketball work and four hours of weight training each week.
But with a trip to the Bahamas on tap, South Carolina is taking advantage of the 10 practices which is what the NCAA allows for teams who are leaving country on a summer trip.
“I think it is invaluable the experience the guys get in terms of what real practice is going to look like,” Paris said after Wednesday’s practice.
“The workouts are just different than a real practice. I turn my volume up a little bit more in these practices. It is good for the guys to get a little bit of that in the summer.”
Carolina leaves Thursday with its first game set for Friday against a team from Lithuania followed by a Sunday tilt against a team from Argentina.
Head coach Lamont Paris says his team is well ahead of last years team which would stand to reason since this is his year two of his tenure. He says unlike last year when he had just one player who had started a college game (Hayden Brown), he has seven players on the roster who know what it’s like to hear their named called prior to tip-off.