Calipari calls UK’s Bahamas trip ‘springboard’ to national title chase. See the schedule.
Kentucky will play four basketball exhibition games in the Bahamas this August, the school’s third preseason trip through the years to the island nation southeast of Florida.
UK will play the Dominican Republic U22 team on Aug. 10, a Mexican collegiate team on Aug. 11, Carleton University (a college team from Canada) on Aug. 13 and the Bahamas National Team on Aug. 14.
The games will be played at the Baha Mar Convention Center.
Tickets will cost $100 per game.
More information on purchasing tickets and reserving rooms at the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar is available at KentuckyBahamasTour.com.
“I know our fans are excited as we once again make a trip to the Bahamas,” UK head coach John Calipari said in a news release. “This has always been a memorable trip for our teams and our fans, and it has always given us a springboard heading into the season. These games will be a challenge for us and will allow us to grow and see where we are at this point. We have a great mix of returning players and newcomers who want to use this opportunity to begin the preparation it takes to win a national title. That’s our goal and it all starts at Baha Mar.”
Kentucky first played games in the Bahamas in the summer of 2014. Freshman Tyler Ulis made an eye-catching debut in the games, which also served as the first game telecasts on the then-new SEC Network. UK won its first five games before capping a grueling schedule that had six games in eight days by losing to a Dominican Republic team coached by former and future UK assistant coach Orlando Antigua.
Kentucky also played four games in the Bahamas in the summer of 2018. Fans in attendance were audibly excited to see transfer Reid Travis play his first games for UK. Kentucky won by an average margin of 29 points.
Kentucky also played a regular-season game in the Bahamas. UK routed Arizona State 115-69 on Nov. 28, 2016.
During the March 1 broadcast of his weekly radio show, Kentucky Coach John Calipari said plans were underway to play again in the Bahamas this summer.
“How many of you went to the Bahamas with us?” Calipari said in apparent reference to the 2018 trip. “It was a great trip. I mean, we had 2 (or) 3,000 people follow us to the Bahamas.”
Calipari also echoed something he said during the 2014 trip: that college basketball should “own” August in the sense of marketing the sport.
“It was crazy,” he said of a previous trip to the Bahamas. “It was on national television in August. So, that’s another thing that is in the works we’ve been discussing to see how we do it.”
