Euro Trip

Thanks to relaxed pandemic-travel restrictions, there was a nearly 560% increase in U.S. air travel to Europe this summer over 2021 numbers, according to the National Tourism and Travel Office. Go ahead and count the Santa Clara men’s basketball team among those many (many) nomads. In their first foreign tour since 2016, the Broncos spent 10 days in late August in Spain and France. The men won their first and second games in Madrid and Barcelona, respectively. They fell in their third and final match to Paris Basketball’s First Team—one of the best in Europe with several NBA draft picks. “This is one of those trips that our student-athletes will be talking about for their rest of their lives,” says head coach Herb Sendek. “It’s a tremendous opportunity for them to see some beautiful, new places while also forming a bond that will stick together long after they return back home.” In addition to competing, the students joined coaches and donors for sightseeing, from watching a flamenco performance in Madrid to a dinner cruise along Paris’ famous Seine River. “I never thought I’d be in a situation like this, seeing the Eiffel Tower in person,” says Camaron Tongue ’25 in a @SantaClaraHoops Twitter recap video of the trip. “I can’t stop smiling.”